Facing Your Giants

Facing Your Giants

Part #1

1 Samuel 17:40–51 (NIV84) — 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!” 45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” 48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. 51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the scabbard. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

I. One of my favorite authors is Max Lucado.

A. Max Lucado is a best-selling author and writer and preacher at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas

1. In his book, “Facing Your Giants”, he points us to God’s answers for our real life giant struggles.

2. This will be our focus for the next few weeks, dealing with our real life struggles and how we can be victorious

3. Throughout the scriptures we read stories of simple men and women just like you and me who faced incredible problems and overcame them through God solutions.

4. It wasn’t their wit, and wisdom; nor the skill and prowess on the battle fields which allowed them to celebrate victories; there was something more.

5. Many of our bible hero’s were just as flawed as you and me, some of them even more flawed than any of us here today.

6. …And yet God did great things through them.

7. So, it wasn’t their holiness and purity or spiritual perfection which made them overcomers.

B. We read in the bible the promises and admonitions which call for us to be “more than conquerors” and over-comers.

1. From the beginning of creation we are called to take dominion and there is the promise that we will rule and reign with Him one day.

2. And yet we find ourselves often facing giants in our lives; obstacles which seem insurmountable; problems which are persistent and just won’t go away.

3. I’m talking about real life struggles that everyone faces.

4. Some folks may hide it more than others; but truth be told there is always something that all of us face in life which gets us down; holds us down; and sometimes keeps us down.

5. Instead of playing ostrich and sticking our proverbial heads in the sand hoping the giants will go away by themselves;

6. Or cowering in fear never attempting to gain victory in our lives living defeated and ashamed

7. Or worse yet, running from our problems hoping we can run far enough and fast enough to escape them…

8. I’m here today to tell you there is a better way.

9. This is our focus for the next few weeks and the theme of Max Lucado’s book, “Facing Your Giants.”

C. Actually, the title is half of the battle…

II. We must face the giant.

1. No hiding, no running away, no cowering in fear.

B. The obvious Biblical starting point is the story of a boy and his battle with the giant.