Just imagine a big, big giant. This giant is a 3-meter-tall soldier. He is the greatest soldier in his country and a war hero. This giant is protected and armed like a tank.
What would you do if you had to face this giant in a battle? What would you use to fight the giant?
David had to fight a giant. When Saul was still the king of Israel, Israel was in war with the Philistines. At that time, they were fighting with spears and swords. Goliath was a giant. He was actually about 3 meters tall. He wore a body armor that weighed 50 kg. His spear was as big as a tree. This giant told the army of Israel to send a soldier in order to fight against him. For 40 days Goliath told the soldiers of Israel that they should choose one person for a one on one battle. If the soldier of Israel won, then the Philistines would become the servants of Israel. If Goliath won, the Israelites would become the servants of the Philistines. Every morning and every evening Goliath was mocking the soldiers of Israel and the God of Israel. When Saul and everybody else heard those words, they were extremely afraid. Nobody was willing to fight against Goliath. Everybody was a coward. Saul was a coward and David’s brothers who were soldiers were cowards, too.
Then on one day, David was sent by his father to his brothers on the war field to bring them some food. When he arrived there, he heard what Goliath said. And David was the only one who was willing to respond to this mocking. He went to king Saul and said the following:
1. Sam. 17,32-47: As a shepherd David was used to dangerous situations. Shepherds have always played an important role in God’s story. Abel was a shepherd who offered a better sacrifice than his brother Cain. Abraham was a shepherd who became a friend of GOD. Isaac and Jacob were shepherds. The life of a shepherd is mostly monotonous and boring. They did not have an easy and comfortable life. During the day they fainted from the heat and at night from the frost. There was hardly any thought of sleep for them (Genesis 31:40). Shepherds had a hard life. When Christ is called the good shepherd, it does not describe an idyllic existence, but a hard task. Just as David was a shepherd called to take care of the people of Israel, so Christ is the good shepherd who takes care of His sheep. David fed both his father’s sheep with all the faithfulness of his heart and God’s people. He fought against bears and lions to protect his father’s sheep. David and Christ led and lead their sheep with a wise hand. They know exactly what their sheep need and what harms them. David wasn’t scared of Goliath because he already had experienced that God had helped him with the lion and the bear. David told Saul that the Lord who rescued him from the lion and the bear will rescue him from the hand of the Philistine.
How can we defeat giants in our lives? How was David able to defeat Goliath?
1. Sam. 17, 39: I cannot
1. Sam. 17, 46: This day the LORD will give me the victory over you. I’ll strike you down.
We ourselves cannot defeat giants on our own. We need God to defeat giants. If you want to defeat a giant then surrender to God, so that He can fight for you. God gives us the victory through His son Jesus Christ (1. Kor. 15,57). Human strength doesn’t help in a war against giants, because giants are too strong. David didn’t choose Saul’s armor and weapons. He picked up his wooden staff. He went down to a stream and chose five smooth stones. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. Then he took his sling in his hand and approached Goliath. Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield-bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. When Goliath saw David, he despised him. David was a very young, cute and handsome man. He didn’t look like someone you would run away from because of fear. David wasn’t intimidating. Goliath had a spear, a sword, a shield and body armor. David had God. He told Goliath that he was fighting against him in the name of God. David trusted God that He would help him and God did help him. David defeated Goliath. God is a helper and a protector.
Walking with God is always a spiritual struggle. For this spiritual walk and for this spiritual warfare, GOD has given His children an armor. We were given this spiritual armor because we have to fight against spiritual forces of wickedness. We can only win this spiritual walk and this spiritual warfare and grow in sanctification by putting on the armor of God. We are to gird our waist with truth and wear the breastplate of righteousness. Our feet are to be fitted with readiness to preach the gospel. We are to take up the shield of faith and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God. If someone asked me what is the most effective weapon against the evil forces or the best protection from the enemy, I would say prayer. The most powerful weapons and protections that we have as Christians are the Word of God and prayer.
But why isn’t prayer a part of God’s armor? Why doesn’t it say in Ephesians 6: Take hold of the spear of prayer, with which you can break through the enemy’s ranks or with which you can unleash a devastating blow on the enemy. This would be an appropriate description of prayer. But prayer is not listed as part of God’s armor. That should raise questions for us. That should make us suspicious. GOD makes so many promises regarding prayer. He speaks again and again about the power of prayer and the influence of prayer (James 4:2). Why is prayer not a part of God’s armor?
By prayer we learn how to use the armor of God. Without prayer there is no armor. In prayer we put on GOD’S armor. Prayer itself has no part in the armor of God because it is the most important part of any part of the armor. The use of the armor stands or falls with prayer. Prayer is the secret of a spiritual walk and a victorious struggle. Prayer is the key to defeat any giants. Prayer is not only the secret to our own personal walk with God, but also to the spiritual walk for those around us. Through prayer we can make a significant difference in the spiritual walk and struggle of other people. Prayer and the Word of God are our most important weapons against the attacks of our giants.
Prayer is not a part of God’s armor because prayer is the basis of the armor. The armor can only be put on and used in prayer. Prayer is found in every piece of God’s armor because prayer is the secret of a spiritual warfare and a spiritual walk.
Who was the biggest giant in David’s life that he had to defeat?
Saul was the biggest giant in David’s life. After killing Goliath, David became a leader in the army of Israel. He was fighting Saul’s battles and he won every battle. Everybody loved him, except Saul. Saul didn’t love David although he was his son-in law. Saul hated David. He was jealous because everybody liked David more than him. Saul tried to kill David several times. David had to flee and hide in the desert so that Saul couldn’t find him. There were several occasions were David could have killed Saul but he didn’t. Saul was chasing David with thousands of soldiers in order to kill him. David knew that he was going to be the new king, but he didn’t rebel against Saul but rather respected him. David didn’t try to overthrow the throne by saying that Saul was a coward in his tent and that he had to free and protect the people because Saul was too afraid to do this himself.
In Goliath’s case David defeated the giant by fighting against him. In Saul’s case David defeated the giant by waiting on God to do what He had promised to do. He didn’t fight against Saul, he ran away from Saul. There are giants that we need to fight against and there are giants that we need to run away from and hide.
Who is the biggest and most dangerous giant in our lives?
The biggest and most dangerous giant was defeated by Jesus. Jesus defeated the devil and He defeated sin and death.
What could be giants in our lives? What kind of giants could mock us in our own lives?
Is it an addiction? Is it a difficult relationship to somebody? Is it fear? Is it depression? Is it a traumatic event that you don’t want to talk about, but you should talk about to people whom you trust? Is it evil people? Is it a specific sin? Maybe it’s an exam that you have to pass? Or an important life decision? It doesn’t really matter what it is, because there will always be giants in your life that you have to deal with. Maybe your giant is mocking you since a very long time.
Addictions are giants that you have to run away from and get rid of. Lust for example is a giant that you cannot fight against. You have to run away from lust and hide. Joseph had run away when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. You cannot face lust and win. You have to get as far away from lust as possible. You have to run away from things that you are addicted to. When you’re addicted to drugs, alcohol or porn you have to get as far away from those things as possible. The Bible tells us in Matthew 5,29-30 that if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Jesus doesn’t tell us to literally tear out our eyes or cut off our hands, He rather tells us to get rid off sin. If you watch things you shouldn’t watch, you have to stop watching those things. If you are addicted to something seek help, so that you can defeat this giant.
If your giant is a traumatic event that you haven’t processed yet, then you have to face it. If you don’t deal with traumatic events, you will never process it and will never get over it. You need to talk to other people about it. You need people who can help you in the process of healing. Don’t try to fight your giants on your own. Don’t think that they will go away eventually. Time doesn’t heal wounds, but wounds need time to heal. And there are wounds that will never heal on their own, if you don’t seek help. There are wounds that need a doctor to heal. There are spiritual or emotional wounds for which you need help.
In Philippians 4,13 God tells us that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. There is no giant who is too strong for Jesus. There is no fear too fearful for Jesus. There is no addiction too addictive for Jesus. There is no sin too sinful for Jesus. And there is no trauma too traumatic for Jesus. Jesus can deal with it all. He is the ultimate giant killer. He knows how to defeat giants. Jesus is stronger than your giants. Come to Jesus with your giants! He will defeat them.