How to Slay Your Giants
“for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands”
1 Samuel 17:47
Many of you are fighting the biggest giant you’ve ever faced. You feel surrounded on all sides by the enemy, and you’re fighting to save your children, save your marriage, save your home, save your business … and it feels insurmountable. But the Bible teaches us that the battle is the Lord’s! We fight not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of darkness. With Him on your side, YOU are a giant slayer! If we can learn from and apply the keys to David’s success against Goliath, we can learn how to bring down our own Goliaths. We can face these giants with confidence and become Giant slayers.
Giant slayers are submitted and disciplined; they’re upbeat and positive. Giant slayers are the same character in the darkness as they are in the light. They see trials as training rather than trouble. Like David, if we want to face our giants and win, we must learn to be ourselves, and use what God gave us. To be giant slayers we must be determined and focused on the reward. And lastly, giant slayers take authority over the enemy. Let’s look at these specific things we can learn from David to become a giant slayer.
First of all, you must be submitted to authority. You have to get under what God puts over you, or you’ll never get over what God wants to put under you! You can have talent, calling and anointing, but if you are not submitted to authority—such as parents, teachers, spiritual leaders, you will not see your giants fall. Submit yourself to the authority of godly people who God has put you around and opened the door for you to learn from. Submit yourself, and if they’re wrong, God will deal with them. But as you submit, it empowers you to slay giants.
Number two, the Bible says in 1 Samuel 17:20, “David rose early in the morning.” If you’re going to defeat your giant, you’ve got to rise up early. You have to put some things first. This speaks of discipline. Are you disciplined to make time to read your bible, to pray, to spend time in worship? You must first be disciplined before you can slay your giant. Otherwise it’s like competing in the Olympics without ever practicing.
The other thing rising up early in the morning speaks of about David, is that he GOT UP! Your enemy will always show up when you’re in the trenches. When you’re down in your lowest place. The Bible said when David arrived the men were in the trench. Sometimes we dig a safe place to hide. We find a level of comfort to live with that protects us from what’s going on around us. But when you peep out of that trench, looking up to face your enemy, all of a sudden that 9-foot tall giant appears to be 15-feet! But if you’ll get up, you’ll see the enemy is not as big as you thought it was!
Next, when Goliath stepped forward, they got up out of the trenches and started shouting for the battle. If you’re going to kill a giant, you can’t be silent. Giant killers shout. Giant killers praise. Giant killers say to themselves, “I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise will continually be in my mouth.” You have to lift your voice for victory in your family. Lift your voice in prayer. Lift your voice in confession of God’s word. Shout the promise is bigger than the lies the enemy is touting. The enemy wants to silence you. He wants to silence you with fear and judgment and defeat. But Joshua said shout, for the Lord has given you the city. And Ezra said shout grace, grace, because God has already laid a foundation. Shout your promises. Speak your truth. Do not be silent.
Number five, David wasn’t focused on the battle; he was focused on the reward. “Tell me, what will I get if I win this battle?” Twice in 1 Samuel 17, David asked what would happen if he killed Goliath and twice the reward is repeated. I believe God wanted to make that point clear. Everyone else was focused on the battle – maybe afraid of what would happen if they lost. But David wanted to get focused on the prize. When you get in the battle, the enemy wants you to focus on the wrong thing. Focus on the reward. Get your eyes on the prize. It’s worth all the struggles and the things that we go through to get our families to Heaven. It’s worth fighting for. It’s worth living right. It’s worth keeping your family in church. It’s worth the fight. Focus on the reward. No more sorrow. No more pain. No more death. Get your eyes off of the risk and on to the reward. Heaven is going to be worth it all.
This one is very important. If you’re going to slay your giants, you have to be the same in the dark as you are in the light. You have to defeat your personal lion and bear before you can go out and defeat Goliath in public. If you can win in the dark of your life, behind closed doors, it’s only a matter of time before great victory will manifest in the open where everybody can see it. This is your character. There must be a call to character if you’re going to be a giant slayer. Be the same in the dark as you are in the light. Be the same at home as you are in the streets. Let your character speak for you. Fight the good fight when no one is looking, and then when everyone is looking – you’ll be positioned to win!
Another thing we can learn from David is that Giant killers see their trials as training, not as trouble. Your perspective has to change. You’re never going to bring down your giant complaining about every little battle you’ve had to fight. But when you say, like David did, God was with me when I fought the lion, God was with me when I fought the bear, then you have no reason to doubt God will be with you again. ‘He was with us when we didn’t have anything, why would we doubt Him now?’ We are all fighting giants right now. Our church is fighting a giant with thousands of empty seats. You’re fighting a giant of closed doors, lost sales, reduced hours, unemployment running out, schools closing … but you know what? We’ve got a record! Remember when you defeated your lion, remember when you defeated your bear, just like David, look back and remind your family where God has brought you from to get you where you are. He’s not going to leave you now. We’re going to face Goliath and come back stronger than ever!
The last thing I want to point out about David is that he was determined. In verse 40 it says this, “And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.” Why five stones? Because he was determined. I think David said, “I’m going. And if I don’t get him with the first rock, and the second rock, and the third rock, then I’ll keep on. But I’m not going to quit until this giant falls.” You’ve got to be determined. You’ve got to focus on the reward, believe God is going to bring you through, but determine that if it doesn’t happen the first time, if it doesn’t turn out the way you expected, that you’ll pull out those back-up stones! You’ll keep fighting until you bring your giant down.
Maybe your giant is sickness. Maybe your giant is worry. Maybe your giant is fear or addiction that has come out of nowhere in your own home. Take authority over it! Be a giant slayer. Let’s take authority over all the fears that are coming against your life right now. The battle is the Lord’s, and through Him, you are more than a conqueror!
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