Thursday, December 5, 2019

Running Towards Goliath

Then he [Goliath] stood and cried out…Then David spoke, ‘For who is this?…The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine...the battle is the LORD’s…‘David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:26-48.

I will never get bored with the story of David and Goliath. I love any writing that displays a movie in my imagination and I’m so thankful that God gave us so many details for this battle. On one side of the valley Jesse’s youngest son, David was basically sent as a sandwich boy for his brothers. As he approached his brothers, he heard the taunts of this huge man yelling across the valley proclaiming some of the most outrageous statements of intimidation and threats. Young David looked around unaffected and asked, ‘Who is this…?’ And as if his fearlessness of the taunting circumstances wasn’t impressive enough, he yelled right back that he wasn’t afraid because the LORD had already won this battle! David had victory in his history with God on his side. I can picture his courageous words coming from the mouth of the young teen as he rushed towards the adversary to defeat him. What was this feisty and brave young man’s weapon? -- God’s power…the same weapon both you and I have when facing our Goliath’s!

I’ll just bet there are Goliath’s calling to you with threats and lies of defeat. ‘You will not be healed! Your marriage cannot be saved! You will never be happy again! You cannot live through this grief!’ For the person who has gotten the diagnosis from the doctor…God is fighting your battle. For the marriage that has been shattered from circumstances…God will give you the weapons for strength, wisdom and forgiveness. For the grieving heart who has been left behind…God will fight the battle of loneliness during this season. As believers, we carry within us everything that David possessed that helped him prevail against his enemy. When we recognize that the power within us is greater than the circumstances around us, we too can run into battle with confidence and great hope. When your thoughts begin taunting you with lies of hopelessness, remember your past victories with the Lord and run towards the battle in confidence.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory…because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” 1 John 4:4

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