David said to the Philistine:  “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies-you have defied Him.  Today, the Lord will hand you over to me.  Today, I will strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth.  Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s.  He will hand you over to us.”   1 Samuel 17:45-47  HCSB

Now this Israelite army is shaking in their boots over this giant that is coming against them.  Verse 24 tells us that “When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.”  Let’s face it, we’ve all been there and done that, right?  We have all dealt with problems that seem way bigger than we are.  We have all trembled in fear at one time or another.  So, all these Israelites are sitting there wringing their hands and wondering what they are going to do with this giant.

Then all of a sudden, David, this young shepherd boy comes along.  His father has sent him to bring supplies to his brothers who are fighting in the Israelite army.  David is curious as to what all the ruckus is about.  He finds that this giant has not only been taunting the army but defying God.  So, young David says, “I’ll go fight this giant”.  He is too small to wear the armor or carry a sword, so he proceeds to the line of battle armed with just a slingshot and five stones.  Now, right here any person in their right mind is saying, “yeah right”.  David is a young boy with no fancy weapons, no military training and he is going against a giant that has the whole Israelite army terrified.  But he has God.  You see when Goliath mocked God, he went too far.  David came against him in the name of God.  He told Goliath that God would hand Goliath over to him.  David fully understood that this battle belonged to the Lord.  He fully understood that God would fight for him.  He just needed to proceed to the battle line.  He needed to bring the equipment that God gave him.  He needed to stand firm.  Now we all know the rest of the story.  With his slingshot and one stone David took Goliath down.  He knew going in, that the battle, the victory, and the glory belonged to God.

Francesca Battistelli has a song called, Giants Fall.  It is a great song for helping with anxiety.  I have learned that watching giants fall is a much better pastime than worrying.  We can be like the Israelite army and be terrified and sit and wonder what we can do, or we can give it over to God and trust Him to handle it.  I’ve done it both ways and I can assure you that trusting God is a lot more fun than worrying and being scared.

In order to bring giants down, we have to realize a few things.  First of all, we are weak and small.  Often times we face problems that are way bigger and way stronger than we are.  But no problem we face is bigger than the God we serve.  God can take any problem we face and crush it like a bug.

It took some gigantic problems in my life to make me understand this.  But praise God, I finally got it.  I have come to a place in my life where my faith is greater than my fear.  My prayer for you today is that you can do the same.  I no longer worry about my problems, I am just sure that God is on it.  I only become anxious to see how he will handle it.  Now, I will admit that there are times when I am confronted with a problem and I have a momentary slip, but I have come to quickly remember who is in control.  This brings me back to that place where I just wait patiently to watch the giant go down.

Today, I encourage you to give your giants over to God.  Experience the peace and joy that comes from trusting Him.  And remember, it’s a lot more fun to watch the giant fall than it is to worry about it.

Have a great day!