Defeating Your Goliath
by
Rev. Steve Ridenour
For Him Ministries
We are all faced with challenges throughout our lives. The challenges or difficulties may be something small, or they may be something big, but they are still difficulties that we have been confronted with. Being human in nature there are times when we are inclined to try to handle our difficulties by ourselves, and in our own way. As Christians we are empowered with the gift of being able to take our challenges to God with the faith that He will help us to handle what we are up against.
God teaches us about this wonderful gift in many places throughout the Bible. One of my favorites is in the book of 1 Samuel. It is the story of David and Goliath. Here is the story of a young man that had more courage than all of the mighty men of Israel. I try and imagine the look on the face of Goliath when David, a small, young man from Israel, walked up to this giant of a man from Philistine, and told him very confidently that he would defeat him. Not only would he defeat him, but also he would leave his flesh for the birds of prey in the air, and the beasts of the fields. Now that was faith.
As Christians we are bombarded at times with Goliath's. Satan is constantly on the attack to try and destroy our faith in our Lord. Satan throws Goliath's into our lives all the time, and as we draw closer and closer to our walk with Jesus Christ, Satan throws bigger and bigger Goliath's. At first, as a new Christian, I was overwhelmed by the troubles that kept coming into my life. I didn't realize what the evil one would be trying to do. Satan put these Goliath's in front of me constantly. Well I kept my faith in Jesus Christ, and those troublesome giants fell like stumbling blocks. Today Satan still challenges me with Goliath's, and many of them are huge, but I do not run from them, because I know that Jesus will defeat them all. All I have to remember to do is to take them to God in prayer, and have the faith of a mustard seed.
God defeated my biggest Goliath back in 1995, and I had not even been born again yet. I had fought this monster Goliath for many years by myself, and I could not win. I was defeated and as a broken man I cried to God. Even at that very moment in time God heard my cries and came to me. Of course He knew that I was ripe for the picking. I was ready to harvest. God came and rescued me after I cried out to Him for His help. He heard me, and He saved me from many years of cocaine addiction. I know first hand how Jesus Christ can defeat any Goliath that steps in my way. In the very same way that Jesus Christ defeated my Goliath; He can defeat yours. It does not matter if you are facing a small circumstance, or a very large circumstance; God wants you to come to Him with it. He wants you to tell Him about it in prayer and let Him defeat the Goliath. God wants the glory, and the glory is His.
David was a man with a tremendous love of God, and he knew that God was his protector. Remember what David told Saul in 1 Samuel 17:37 "The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." In the same way that David had the kind of faith that God would deliver him from the confrontation with Goliath, we should have the same kind of faith that God will deliver us from our different circumstances.
As a young shepherd, David was a very caring and careful keeper of his flock. David was willing to lay down his life by confronting the lions and bears that attacked his flocks. This reminds us of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep. Not only will God deliver us, but we will also be victorious. It doesn't matter how large or how small our problems seem, we should always take them to our Lord in prayer with the faith that He will handle the Goliath.
Scripture quotations from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.
All rights reserved
Copyright 2002 Steven R. Ridenour
Provided by Steve Ridenour Mathis, Texas
and Free Christian Content.org Salado, Texas |
