Conquering My Giants

CONQUERING MY GIANTS

1 Samuel 17

Introduction

Every one of us have been fighting against giants in our lives over the past few months. These are actually NEW giants because we have always had giants to face. Each of these giants have names - they are not strangers to us.

COVID-19 Loneliness Depression Discouragement

Anger Temptation Addiction Frustration

Whatever the name of your giant is, it has impacted your life.

Giants can stifle our motivation to move ahead in life.

Giants can cause us to be fearful of the unknown.

Giants can shut down our efforts before we get started.

Giants can damage our faith, our families, and our futures.

“First thought of the morning, last worry of the night—your Goliath dominates your day and infiltrates your joy.” ? Max Lucado, Facing Your Giants

You might have guessed that today we are going to spend a few minutes in 1 Samuel 17 - the best known of all of the stories of David. It is the introduction of David in many ways and it sets the scene for his iconic rule as the second King of Israel.

From that story I’d like to share three obstacles to conquering our giants and three advantages we have in our spiritual battles.

Three OBSTACLES to Conquering Our Giants

1. Our Giants Can Be Fierce!

Goliath was a giant - he was fearsome, intimidating, blasphemous.

1 Samuel 17:4 says he was nearly ten feet tall. He stopped even the bravest warriors of Israel in their tracks.

1 Samuel 17:5-7 He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds.

Along comes the shepherd boy David, bringing his brothers some lunch. Compared to Goliath, David was a weakling. He didn’t have the strength, weaponry, nor battle experience to face such a challenger.

We may feel like weaklings in the shadow of some of the giants we face.

- Some things are out of our control

- We can be uncertain about how to proceed forward

- We can think that even our best efforts are not effective

Whatever giant you are facing in your life right now, one obstacle to victory is that the giants are fierce!

2. We Can Lack Experience in Facing Giants!

Every one of us have overcome some difficult things in life. At times, though, we come up against a new giant. We may not be prepared. David was not exactly known as Giant killer - yet!

1 Samuel 17:23-25a As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel. As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked.

-No doubt Goliath was a huge challenge.

-David was disturbed at what he heard about this giant.

-1 Samuel 17:26 Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?

- Nobody would believe that David could defeat this giant. They even tried to put him in Saul’s armor - and he couldn’t function like that.

Whatever giant you are facing in your life right now, it may seem impossible to overcome it because it is fierce and we are not experienced in defeating it. Another obstacle David faced was of a different sort...

3. Criticism from Others Can Hold us Back!

David was criticized by…

His brothers (1 Samuel 17:28)

King Saul (1 Samuel 17:33)

Goliath (1 Samuel 41-44 )

In spite of all of that, he was not disheartened.

Critical remarks of others might hold us back in making progress against our giants. It is too easy to be catty and sarcastic with each other. Let’s make sure we are building one another up, and not keeping one another from a victory we would have otherwise.

We have a hard time conquering the giants in our lives.

They are Fierce

We often do not know how to defeat them

Sometimes discouragement from others shuts us down

But this account from David also teaches us...

Three ADVANTAGES For Victory Over Giants

1. The Power of God

David did not attack Goliath on his own power - he knew he could not defeat him that way.

He appealed to the power of God to help him win over Goliath.

Joshua 1:9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?