CONFRONTING YOUR GIANTS!

Today, most people are faced with such problems that you can rightly describe as giants. Examples of Giants include Terminal Cancer, poverty,Fear, Terrorism, Etc.

What Do you do when you are confronted by your giant? Some are paralysed by fear when their giants show up, but those that do know their God stand their grounds and confront the giants with confidence.

For instance: King Saul and the children of Israel ran away from their giant, the Philistine champion, Goliath (1 Sam. 17). But the truth is that if you really know who you are in Christ you should not run away from your giants. Rather you should boldly confront them knowing that the battle is the LORD’s.

Therefore, today we want to look at “HOW TO CONFRONT YOUR GIANTS!” How do you confront your giants? You should follow the rules and confront your giant the way David confronted Goliath.

The Bible says, “And athletes cannot win the prize unless they follow the rules” (2 Tim. 2:5). Therefore, to effectively confront your giant, you must follow the principles:

1. You must realize that you have a covenant relationship with God. For instance, David recognized that he was circumcised.

He said, “…Who is this pagan (uncircumcised) Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy (challenge, belittle) the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam. 17:26b).

I know that because I have a covenant relationship with God, I can do all things through Christ that gives me the strength (Phil. 4:13).

Here is the truth: Though Saul and the other Israelites had a relationship with God, they had no idea about the authority they had because of that relationship.

For you to have a relationship with God, you must first be Born Again. That is the beginning of your covenant relationship with God.

When you are truly Born Again, and you understand the authority of the believer, you can confront any giant.

What did the Israelite army do when they saw Goliath? “As soon as the Israelite army saw Goliath, they began to run away in fright” (1 Sam. 17:24). 

2. You must frequently rehearse the promises of God given to you concerning your Giant. For instance, David let the promise given to anyone that would handle Goliath to be rehearsed to his hearing (1 Sam. 17:26a, 30).

Why? Because faith cometh, by the hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). The more you hear the promise of God concerning a certain issue in your life, the stronger your faith becomes.

3. Remember the testimonies of what God did for you in the past. For instance, David refused to be discouraged but rather drew strength by giving testimonies of what God did for him in the past. 

And David said unto Saul, “Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him…” (1 Sam. 17:34-35, KJV).

4. You should make a prophetic declaration of what God promised us in His Word. For instance, David made a prophetic declaration saying what God promised in His Word concerning him.

David said to Saul, “…the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:36).

You too should confess the Word of God when you are faced by challenges (Ps. 118:17; Isa. 54:17; Zech. 2:5; Ps. 119:1-16).

Seeing his faith, Saul finally released David to go and face Goliath. And Saul said unto David, “Go, and the Lord be with you” (1 Sam. 17:37).

5. Be fully equipped with the correct amours for battle (Eph. 6:10-18). Before you go for the battle, make sure that you have been fully equipped with the correct amours for it.

Then Saul gave David his own armor — a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39 David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before” (1 Sam. 17:38).

David protested to Saul saying, “Saying, "I can't go in these." "I'm not used to them." So, David took them off again” (1 Sam. 17:39). 

How did David equip himself instead? “David picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine” (1 Sam. 17:40).

David armed himself with 5 smooth stones – Truth (Jn. 17:17), Faith (Heb. 11:1, 6), Jesus. With the first letter “J” he killed Goliath and with the remaining 4 he killed the four brothers of Goliath in a later battle (1 Sam. 17:41-44).

6. You must speak to your Goliath! David replied Goliath saying, “And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands” (1 Sam. 1741-47).

7. You must be on the offensive (1 Sam. 17:48).  For instance, David acted swiftly by making haste to run towards his enemy (1 Sam. 17:48-49).

“As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49 Reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground” (1 Sam. 17:48-49).

So, David triumphed over Goliath. I therefore, decree that as David triumphed over his giant, Goliath, so shall you triumph over your giants. From today, you will no longer run from your challenges, IJN. If you received it shout a big Amen!

Watch out for the next Edition of Good News from the Pulpit.

·       Your friend, I. I. Madubunyi (Senior Pastor, HOG)