Facing Giants by Phil Kinney
1 Samuel 17
We come to the story David and Goliath. The story of a shepherd boy, a mere boy, a musician, a poet, a songwriter, a singer, this one who cared for sheep, the underdog, taking on and killing the giant Goliath: before whom all the armies of Israel trembled, before whom they were paralyzed with fear.
The story of a giant and an underdog. It touches our human lives. There may be some of us who see ourselves as the Goliaths of this world, but most of the time, most of us in some situation or another see ourselves as a "David." We're the underdog, fighting against some giant or another that is in our path - standing between us and success, between us and peace, between us and the fulfillment of God's will in some way, shape or form.
Sometimes the giant is a literal giant. If you were playing in the NBA playoffs just now, you'd be facing some of those giants. But, of course, most of the time, the giants that we face aren't physical giants. They are mental giants or emotional giants. They are giants in our hearts and in our minds.
Sometimes the giants are people. There are people who are obstacles against which we seem to be able to make no progress whatsoever. They stand in our way and we don't know what we are going to do to deal with them. Difficult people! Allow your minds to wander to your families, to your places of work, your colleagues, people around about you. Who is it in your life, who seems to dog your steps every way you go? They may be small of stature, but they fill their mind and in your mind, they're just like a giant. You can't get rid of them. There they are, every turn. And you don't know what to do. Just like the armies of Israel, such people can paralyze us!
Sometimes the giants are situations. Think about situations that arise in our lives. That rise up like mountains. Seemingly impossible to deal with. So enormous, so huge, that we don't know what way we're going to turn.
Some of us carry a burden of grief, a mountain of grief, a giant-sized grief in our hearts and souls and we don't know how we're going to move ahead but how does this woman move ahead, day after day, as she looks back to what was taken from her?
When we look at our own lives, we will no doubt be able to name some situations which we've faced with equal fear and trepidation. Some that we've just pushed to the side and said, "Can't do it. Can't be done. We cannot win."
FACING UP TO GIANTS. But what, what are we going to do to change that situation? . . .to come face to face with our giants. . to come face to face with those mountains. . to come face to face with the Goliaths in our life? What are we going to do? Not just to run away from them or to bury them, but to move on from them, past them, and when it comes right down to it, to kill them: to kill that thought, that idea, that idea about another person which is in our lives and stands before us as Goliath stood before David?
Very briefly this morning, I want to point to four things that David did when confronted by Goliath. Four things that you and I can do.
Four steps in defeating Giants:
1. Call the giants name: David called him by name. He gave a name to this enemy that stood in his path. And that's a critical thing to do with those obstacles in our lives. Sometimes they are only here in our lives at the level of emotion. We never fully speak about them, bring them to the surface, but how critical that is if we are to deal with the obstacles and the giants in our lives.
Everybody in Alcoholics Anonymous knows that until you name your problem, you cannot begin to deal with it, so name your giant. Call it out by name. "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who defies the armies of Israel, the living God?" And all of the sudden that giant shrinks down to size.
2. Cast aside the naysayers. David’s brothers spoke to him as only older children can do to their younger siblings: they can put you down, say you can't do this, you can't do that. And there are all kinds of people who will do that. This is quite different from those people with whom we disagree, whose opinions we need to hear from time to time. We surely need that in our lives and in our congregation, but there are some people who are saying all the time, "You can't do this. You can't do that."
Be careful who you listen to in the face of the naysayers around about you and the giants you have to face. We can do more than we think, you know: we really can. Far more than we think (Eph 3:20)
3.Create comparisons. Comparisons by which to compare this unique situation that he had to deal with, to compare it with other situations he had dealt with in his past. David said, "I killed lions. I protected my sheep. I've dealt with the bears. It's not quite like Goliath, but it's close enough to know that I can do it again." Close enough to know that we can do it again. He used his mind to take this situation and say, "I can get this far. Maybe I can get the whole way."
And if we work hard with whatever obstacle, our giant is in our way, we can do that as well. So often with a comparison we realize we can go further than we could have ever gone before.
4. Count on God. He called out the name of this giant. He cast aside the naysayers. He created comparisons and he counted on God to do what he could not do by himself. What wonderful words those are towards the end of our chapter. "You have come to me with a sword and with a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied."
Do we count on God? In the face of all the other things we trust in, is God underneath and around in everything we do? Or if we do and there are giants in our lives that can be and need to be killed, if we are to walk further on the path that God has called us? To count on God in David's case was clearly not an excuse for not playing "his part" or ours. David stepped out acting on his faith in God. We need to do all we can do, and in faith look to God to do what we cannot.
We are to name the giants in our lives.
We are to say, "No" and to cast aside the naysayers.
We are to work with our minds to do what we can to move ourselves ahead.
Talk About
How does the life of David encourage you?
What giants are you facing in your life?
What would you like to be remembered for?
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