“HAPPILY EVERY AFTER…” – PART FIVE
JACK & THE BEANSTALK –- FIGHTING THE GIANT PROBLEMS FACING OUR FAMILIES
1 Samuel 17 • Larry L. Thompson (June, 2002)
Introduction:
There are many people these days that live in a family full of fear. Fearful of health problems, fearful of failure, fearful of physical violence, fearful about relationships, fearful about finances, fearful about the future, fearful about marriage, fearful about our children. Psychologists tell us we are a nation that is riddled with fears. We all have our own GIANT FEARS. Most of the fears we encounter have names…and most of them are some type of phobia. Every kind of fear phobia from autophobia to xenophobia.
Xenophobia is the fear of strangers. Autophobia is the fear of self. There’s monophobia, some people are afraid of being alone. There’s automonophobia - afraid of being alone with yourself. All kind of phobias. Psychologists actually say there’s even chairophobia—chairophobia is the fear of having FUN. The fear of enjoying a good time. Sadly, some think, incorrectly, that Christians have that phobia. Tragically, you can’t tell they don’t just by looking at some of them.
David knew all about fears that face our families! The fears that are so large, they literally become giants in our life. In I Samuel 17 David is facing Goliath and he must have had at least a little bit of FEE-FI-phobia—which, of course, is the fear of giants. God will direct us through His word today regarding facing the challenge of overcoming our giants in our family.
You need to understand that WE ALL HAVE GIANTS in our life. The question today is not “Do you have a giant?” The question is, “How do you conquer the giant?”
Illustration: Bob Larson-Atlas vs. Christ child
Bruce Larson talks about his counseling ministry in his book, “Believe and Belong.” He states that many people come to him and tell them they are defeated by the giant problems in their life. His office was directly across from the RCA building in NYC and he would ask them to take a walk with him to this building. At the entrance of the RCA building there is a GIANT statue of Atlas, perfectly built man, holding the world on his shoulders and yet you can see he is about to collapse under the pressure. Then he would walk his client directly across the street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and show them a statue of Jesus behind the altar. The statue is when Jesus was a boy, 8 or 9, and he is holding the world in one hand with great ease. “You have a choice when you face your giant. You can carry the burden into battle or you can give that giant to Christ and go in His power and strength.”
I know many of you are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. Let me just recall these essential facts. Israel was at war with the Philistines and Goliath was the Philistine’s #1 warrior. He would stand in the Valley of Elah with the Philistine army on one hill and the Israelite army on the other hill and he challenge Israel to send out their top warrior to face Goliath one-on-one in personal combat. The stakes were high! The loser and his nation people would become servants of the winner.
All the family of God was struck with fear…the fee fi phobia, fear of giants! They had a GIANT PROBLEM IN THE FAMILY OF ISRAEL! For 40 days they faced their giant, Goliath, as he stood in the valley and he shouted, mocked and ridiculed not just the Israelite army, but also the family of God as well as the God of Israel. That was THEIR initial problem. THEY FACED THEIR GIANT DAY AFTER DAY BUT NEVER HAD A BATTLE PLAN TO FIGHT THE GIANT BY FAITH IN THE POWER OF GOD.
One day a shepherd boy named David was sent by his father to bring some food to his older brothers who were soldiers in Israel’s army. He heard the voice of Goliath echoing throughout the valley and said, "How can you let this Philistine mock and blaspheme our God like this?" He said, "I’ll go. I’ll be the Israelite champion! I’ll face this giant and put a stop to his defiling and disgracing the name of our God."
David lived by one simple principle when fighting giants…HE HAD NOTHING TO PROVE AND NOTHING TO LOSE!
Everything he was and everything he had belonged to God. As he stood on the battlefield he was there directed by God and faced his giant in the power of God. David stood to fight, ALONE, because someone was defiling the name of the Living God. He had nothing to prove and nothing to lose. EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM BELONGED TO THE LORD!
They took him to King Saul who said, “You’re just a kid. We can’t send you out there to face Goliath."
Notice this truth about how Saul was dealing with his giant: Saul kept putting off facing the giant, so every day he would wake up and the giant was still there, still taunting, still accusing, still ready to kill and destroy. Every day that Saul put off facing his giant the giant got bigger and bigger and Saul and the armies of God grew smaller and smaller.
David shows up and has no idea who Goliath is or what he is doing to the people of God. However, that is how most GIANTS attack us. We don’t know they are coming until they arrive, they simply show up. David had nothing to prove and nothing to lose. When we fight our giants with something personal to prove then we have to fight in our own strength and we always lose.
ESPN TAKE OFF OF FIGHT:
Use your imagination and think about what this contest might have sounded like if ESPN had the broadcast rights? It may have sounded something like this...Bell, Bell, Bell, Bell!
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to “E----lah A----rena” for this afternoon’s feature event Introducing first, the challenger fighting out of the Israeli camp, standing 5’6" and weighs 124 pounds. He works with sheep and is a part time poet and a musician; he’s been called a man after God’s own heart. Wearing the white tunic and nothing else…here’s… DAAAvid!
His opponent, fighting under the flag of the Philistines, he stands 9’9" tall and weighs 438 pounds. He brings a record of 92 wins and no defeats - all victories coming by T.H.O. (Takes Head Off) The heavyweight champeeeen of the world - GO-LI-ATH!!! Let’s get ready to rumble!!! Bell!
And of course, this turned out to be the biggest surprise upset of all time! The story of David and Goliath is one of the most famous stories in the Bible. In fact, the very mention of the name "Goliath" has come to represent any force or challenge that seems to be impossible to overcome. When a small nation stands up to a large nation, they say, "David’s going up against Goliath." This week as the the New Jersey Nets go against the L.A. Lakers in the NBA finals it is billed as, “Jason ‘the’ Kidd” vs. Shaquille “the Giant” O’Neal—NBC bills it as "David vs. Goliath."
Let me give you three characteristics of a "Goliath" that you will encounter...
1. A "Goliath" is always a problem that is bigger than you! You look at it and it just seems impossible! Just like Goliath was bigger than David, our "Goliaths" are dilemmas that are more than we can humanly handle!
2. A "Goliath" mocks at you and defies your power to defeat him. A "Goliath-size problem" says, "You will NEVER conquer me! You’re too weak and small to face me and there is no need to for you to even try. I will destroy you in time.”
3. A "Goliath" can actually be used by God to force you to look to the power of Christ and by faith to rely upon Him. I mean if you’re facing a seemingly impossible situation (one that’s bigger than you and a problem that you have not been able to solve on your own), the best alternative you’ve got, is to look to Someone Who is bigger than ANY hopeless problem or dilemma - and that, of course, is the Lord our God!
If you are not facing a Goliath today then be certain that you will face a Goliath in your future. Please listen carefully to God’s word for three essential strategies for having victory over the GIANTS IN YOUR LIFE.
I. SECURE YOUR FACTS (17:17-27)
• STAY FAITHFUL IN THE SMALL THINGS (17:17-22)
Today is an excellent opportunity to point out something that is normally missed in this great story. Look at what David was doing that day…he wasn’t in the army, studying how to defeat the Philistines or how to destroy the Giant. He was fulfilling his work assignment, taking care of the sheep at his father’s house. His father then asks him to take supplies to the front lines of battle and check on his brothers and bring a report. He responds with active obedience but before he leaves he insures that his personal responsibilities are covered. V.20 David left the flock in the care of another shepherd. David was faithful in the small things and God honored his faithfulness. Faith is one of the Fruits of the Spirit. It was the faithfulness of David in the day to day operations of the small things that enabled him to face the lion and the bear and the small victories encouraged him when it came time to face the greater challenge. Watching sheep, carrying cheese to your brothers…doesn’t sound like you are accomplishing much in this world and yet it was in the midst of his faithfulness in the small things that God gave him the opportunity for the greater task. Faithfulness is God’s vehicle for promotion.
Many people NEVER face their giants because they are defeated by intimidation of the enemy long before they ever engage the enemy. This truth leads me to this next point…
• SURVEY FULLY THE SITUATION (17:23-27)
David realized after looking and listening to this situation that Goliath had gotten into the heads of God’s people and struck them with fear by keeping them looking at their own ability to face him and not the power of God. Remember this…for 40 days Goliath NEVER shot an arrow, never threw a spear, never engaged in hand to hand combat…He just talked and talked and talked and talked. His intent was to destroy the troops morale by defeating them with a cowardly spirit not with the sword in conflict.
David surveyed the situation and realized that EVERY DAY THE ARMY OF GOD GOT READY FOR BATTLE, WENT TO THE FRONT LINES OF BATTLE BUT THEN NEVER ENGAGED IN BATTLE. Fear of giants have a way of creating a spiritual paralysis in your life.
II. STEADY YOUR FOCUS (17:28-39)
• FOCUS ON YOUR CALL – NOT YOUR CRITICS (17:28-33)
David ignored his detractors. His brothers said Goliath was unconquerable, it couldn’t be done. The Israelite army said it couldn’t be done. The King said it couldn’t be done. But David chose to rise above his critics; he focused NOT on what others said “could not be done” but on what he “had seen God do through his life in the past.” He would attempt the seemingly impossible anyway.
• FOCUS ON A CONSISTENT WALK – NOT CONVENTIONAL WISDOM (17:34-39)
We must remember that while giants have one thing in common, THEY ARE ALL BIG, they are different and each giant must be dealt with personally. Saul attempted to have David face Goliath by using Saul’s methods. While David attempted to honor the counsel, he ultimately knew that he would have to fight his giant in his own way. We can not approach our giants trying to be someone we are not.
There are many conventional wisdom books that instruct you on how to fight the fears in your life however; to the Christian there is ONLY ONE method that insures victory and that is “TRUSTING IN THE LORD!” Four times David expressed his trust in the Lord based on the consistency of his daily walk with God. Conventional wisdom said that David did not stand a chance against this Giant. The truth is Goliath did not stand a chance when standing against a man who stands firmly in Christ.
III. STAND IN YOUR FAITH (17:40-52)
• FACE YOUR FEARS BY FAITH (17:40)
At some point you must FACE YOUR FEARS HEAD ON! You must identify your Giant by name, identify what the giant is attempting to do to you or your family and walk in the power of God’s Spirit to meet the Giant, never again running from the problem. Every Giant has a name and in order to conquer your fears you must face your Giant by faith, calling that Giant by name:
• MARRIAGE
• HEALTH
• FINANCES
• CHILDREN
• ADDICTION
• SPIRITUAL LIFE
• RELATIONSHIPS
• A DIFFICULT PAST
• STRONGHOLD OF SIN
• FLEE FROM TRUSTING IN YOUR STRENGTH (17:41-47)
Every follower of Jesus Christ needs to occasionally stand toe-to-toe with a "Goliath." With that in mind, what "Goliaths" are you facing these days? As you ponder that question an even more direct question is this: “do you trust in your own strength and wisdom to deal with the Giants in your life?” Unfortunately, some people have naively thought that so long as they had God in their lives the GIANT PROBLEMS that other people face would somehow be spared from them. Folks, that is contrary to the Bible. All of God’s godly men and women faced Giants in their life. I’ve had to face a few "Goliaths."
• Going into ministry from secular world – Birth of Jennifer
When you face your giant, trusting in the Strength of Christ and not in your personal strength and you defeat your giant then you will see that the other “little giants” have a way of running for the darkness. They are brave until their leader falls and then they scatter. The same will be true in your life.
• FINISH THE FIGHT AND MAKE A MEMORY (17:48-51)
David had the “killer instinct” when he fought his giants. One thing we learn from David is that you better be certain that you don’t just stun your giant but you kill you giant. While a stunned giant is a quiet giant, make no mistake about this, the GIANT WILL WAKE UP and come at you again. YOU MUST FINISH THE FIGHT and in the process make a memory of God’s victory to help you with the giants you will face tomorrow. David took the weapons of Goliath; they would be constant reminder of God’s power displayed in the life of wholly owned man. Every time he would see the weapons of the GIANT he would be reminded, “Not by my strength nor by my power but by YOUR SPIRIT!” The last thing David would remember saying is, “The battle belongs to the Lord.”
The truth is that with every Giant you kill and God gives you victory, you understand better how to face the next giant that comes into your life. I’ve had and will continue to have other "Goliaths" over the years and I’m hopefully learning to handle them better. But what I want to emphasize as we wrap up today is the one essential factor you need going for you when you find yourself facing what appears to be a hopeless, seemingly impossible situation. You absolutely must have a faith that is real.
Conclusion:
What you absolutely must have is this: A faith that is real.
How real is your faith? "Real enough that I’m in church aren’t I? I try to live a good life and do what’s right." But is it real enough to sustain you when something bigger than you are, something you can’t control comes into your life?
I want to speak for a moment to those of you who are "seekers" (that is those of you who haven’t yet really turned your life over to Christ, but you’re thinking about it, maybe that’s why you’re here in church today.) You know I’m really glad you’re here - but I have to say that attending church will not get you through a giant battle, a major life crisis! When the roof caves in, you’ve got to have a faith that is real. And a "real faith" begins when you come to God and you say very simply and very sincerely, "Lord, I need you in my life. I have sins, things I’ve done, that I want to ask Your forgiveness. I need direction for the future. Lord, I open my life to You, I need Your strength."
You need a real faith; you need a personal faith
Not your parent’s faith
Not your marriage partner’s faith
Not your "martially -motivated" faith only to please your husband or wife
Not Your "band-wagon" faith
Not Your fox-hole faith
It’s got to be a personal faith — your faith by your choice! It must be real to you! Only that real faith, rooted in the Word of God, empowered by the Spirit of God will provide what you need to face your fears, to face your Giants and defeat the problem in His power. Are you still fighting the Giants in your own strength? Take a lesson from a shepherd boy and face your giant in the power of the Lord and speak to the situation and say with confidence, “The battle belongs to the Lord.” The Philistines realized that day that you don’t expect victory when you face someone walking in the power and under the anointing of God’s Spirit. Look at verse 50: “David did not have a sword in his hand” but what Goliath failed to see what that he had the power of God in his heart and life.
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