1 Samuel 17:38-40 “Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze
helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and
took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things
before. ‘I can’t go in these,’ he protested to Saul. ‘I’m not used to them.’ So
David took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and
put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff
and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
1 Samuel 17 paints the bleak picture of the Israelite army
facing the Philistines. The major
problem they were facing had a name…Goliath of Gath, the giant. Like the Israelites we face giants in our
lives. Today there are many giants
facing believers and unbelievers alike.
While this list is not exhaustive it might include: financial issues (job loss, debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure, etc.), emotional issues (anger, fear, apathy,
insecurity, poor self/body image, abandonment, anxiety, etc.), physical issues (illness, physical or
sexual abuse, disease, long-term issues like diabetes or M.S, etc.), and spiritual
issues (wavering faith, pride, selfish desires, etc.).
David chose five smooth stones to use as he faced
Goliath. There are five smooth “stones” I
believe we must carry in our spiritual pocket to help us fight the giants we
face.
Stone 1: Prayer –Prayer is vital to the spiritual health of
a believer. It is also a key to
vanquishing our giants. The Word tells
us to bring all our cares to God because he cares for us. Philippians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about
anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him
for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds
anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you
live in Christ Jesus.” Philippians tells
us that in order to have God’s peace, we must take all our worries to him. When we are facing a giant we can run to our
Father and pour out our heart to him in prayer and know that he not only hears
us, but he will answer our prayers!!! We
don’t fight in our power but in his!!!
Stone 2: Word – I can’t stress this enough, WE MUST BE
PEOPLE OF THE WORD!! Just as our bodies require food to stay physically strong
and healthy (periods of fasting excluded), so our spirits require feasting on
the Word to stay strong and healthy. If
we are not in the Word daily, we are robbing ourselves of the opportunity to
hear from God.
Let’s use the analogy of a soldier polishing his sword. A soldier polishes his sword to keep it from
rusting and becoming ineffective. When
we fail to read the Word, we are allowing rust and decay into our spirits.
The Word (which is called the Sword of the Spirit) keeps our
spirits alive and keeps our minds renewed. Ephesians 4:21-23 “Since you have
heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off
your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust
and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Romans
12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform
you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to
know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
Stone 3: Fasting – Fasting purifies our faith. It involves crucifying the flesh so our
spirit can accurately hear from God.
When we hear from the Lord, our faith is refined and developed. This
increases our faith!
Daniel 10 tells us that Daniel fasted and prayed for 21
days. He was driven to fast by a giant
in his life (a vision he had received but did not understand). At the end of the 21 days, an angel arrived
to reassure him that God had heard and dispatched the answer on the first day
Daniel prayed. However, the spirit prince of that region had fought the messenger
of the Lord and prevented him from getting the message/answer to Daniel
sooner. Daniel’s fasting not only opened
him up to hearing the message, but worked to strengthen the heavenly forces
fighting on his behalf.
When we face a giant we do not
know how to fight or even feel we have the strength to fight we might want to
consider fasting. Fasting in essence is
going without food for a period of time in order to give ourselves more fully
to prayer. It is amazing how much time I
have to pray when I am not worrying about eating. It is also amazing how often thoughts of food
or the topic of food comes up in a day!! J There are many types of fast, but the common
theme is crucifying our flesh through refraining from food (or different types
of food) and focusing on prayer. (More
on fasting in a later blog.)
Stone 4: Preaching - God speaks through anointed men and
women. Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good
News about Christ.” It is vital that we
are hearing the Word preached on a regular basis. Just like with reading the Word, our spirits
need to hear anointed preaching. Throughout time, God has spoken to men and
women giving them words to speak to his people.
Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
If he is the same then his mode for delivering his message is the same. Find a minister(s) you trust and listen to everything
you can get a hold of! Note: Always weigh
what you hear by the Word you read for yourself!
Stone 5: Fellowship – We need each other!!! Acts 2:46 “They worshiped together at the
Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals
with great joy and generosity.” Hebrews 10:25 “And let us not neglect our
meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now
that the day of his return is drawing near.”
There is safety in numbers.
We need our fellow believers to “watch our back!” We need to pray for and with each other, to
study and discuss the Word together, and to hold each other accountable. I encourage you; if you don’t already have a
group you belong to, find one! It will
be a priceless investment of your time and energy!!!
One final note: Goliath had brothers. The bad news is, there will always be a giant
to face (some bigger than others). The
GOOD NEWS! John 16:33 “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in
me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart,
because I have overcome the world.”
All Scripture is NLT unless
otherwise stated.
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