Take Out Some Giants

Take Out Some Giants in 94

2/9/94 1 Sam 17:1-30 Ephe 6:10-18 1 Samuel 17:1-50

In our Old Testament reading, we met a young ordinary fellow

who had a giant of a problem standing between him, and what God

intended for him to come. Up to this point, he was just a shep-

herd boy, not even his family expected too much out of him, the

youngest of eight boys. His job was to take care of the sheep and

be a delivery boy. Yet because he was willing to face up to a

giant by the name of Goliath, his name and his life has been

carved in granite in the word of God. His name is David.

1994 has either brought or is bringing some giants into our

lives that will shape us, mold us, make us or break us this year.

Right now, what is your biggest problem? What giant is standing

in your path threatening to destroy you? What giants are there

threatening our church? God has already determined that we can

defeat and take out a number of giants in 94, if we are willing

to trust Him when we go into the battle and go in the name of

Jesus.

Victory requires more than positive thinking. It

requires more than enthusiasm. It even requires more than

action. If you do a lot of action at the wrong time or the

wrong action at the right time, you still come up short.

Victory becomes ours when we think right about our

problems, feel right about our problems, and then act right about

our problems. We need more than just a positive mental attitude.

We need a vision from Jesus Christ as to the direction that we

must go.

When we look at the giants before us, the object is not to 

focus on all the ways the giant might overcome us, but to concen-

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trate on how we are going to slay this monster. A batter who

concentrates on not striking out will strike out. His concentra-

tion needs to be on hitting the ball. A foul shooter who dedi-

cates himself to not missing the shot is going to miss. Her

concentration needs to be on making the shot. A student who

worries about choking during the exam, is going to choke. The

emphasis needs to be on letting the answers flow out clearly.

David was going against a man over nine feet tall. The

man’s coat weighed 125 lbs. The head of the man’s spear weighed

some 15 lbs by itself. Heaven knows how big his sword was. But

David didn’t concentrate on what if he throws the javelin through

me before I get close enough, or what if he grabs me in a a bear

hug, or what if he starts just punching me.

David instead picked him up 5 stones and headed in the

giant’s direction. One other thing he came with was a word from

the Lord. He said in 1 Samuel 17:45-4 to the giant Goliath, "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."

Do you see he did not go through all the what if this hap-

pened and what if that happened? David knew that he had to go

and take a stand, and that because of the God he served, he had

every intention of winning the fight with the giant. He did a

lot of bad talking even before the first lick or hit had taken

place. But it wasn’t because He thought he was somebody bad or

tough. It was because David knew what the Lord had done for him

in the past, that He could talk so boastfully now.

You see when folks were laughing at David about being a

nobody out in the hills taking care of the sheep, David was

learning what it was to know God. Your position in life is

nothing to be ashamed of, so long as you are using the position

to get to know God even better. God is always looking for people

who don’t have big heads and big egoes, because those are the