God's Roadmap

Now may the Lord Jesus Christ and our Father God, who loved us and in his wonderful grace gave us eternal comfort and a beautiful hope that cannot fail, encourage your hearts and inspire you with strength to always do and speak what is good and beautiful in his eyes (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 TPT).


Saturday, August 7, 2021

Killing the Giants of Impossibility

 


by Barbara Latta @barbaralatta

The earth around us is filled with depressing events.

I can find myself sometimes falling into a hole of impossibility. Just looking at the travel restrictions imposed by governments around the world started to play on my mind. How can I ever see my family again? We are spread out across the world.

I guess it’s human nature to start leaning to our own understanding without even knowing that’s what we do.

Until God brings us back to what He said. He used the story of David and Goliath to remind me that he kills the giants of impossibility. Goliaths don’t win.

1 Samuel 17, verse one tells us the Philistines were gathered at Shochoh (KJV).

There Goliath threatened Israel for 40 days.

If the Philistines thought they could defeat Israel, why didn’t they just go across the valley and attack? Something held them back. According to Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon, the name Shochoh means hedge.

There was a spiritual hedge between Israel and the Philistines.


  • Fear Weakened the Israelites

Only the Israelites didn’t see it because they only focused on their fear.

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. (1 Samuel 17:11 NKJV)

Dismayed according to Strong’s H2865 means afraid, break in pieces, broken, break down, abolished, discouraged, and beaten down.

They allowed the words of the enemy to break them down.


  • Worship Strengthened David

It took a teenage boy who had spent time in the pasture with sheep, away from the words of doubt, to show the covenant Israel had with the great I AM. 

David had spent years in worship and his spirit was strengthened. He saw the Lord and not the enemy.

David remembered victories. He killed a lion and a bear.

But the enemy doesn’t want us to look to God. He attacks with distraction.

When David offered to fight the giant, he was mocked by his own brother.

We can be attacked in our faith by those who may mean well but are not agreeing with God’s Word. It can be family, friends, or church people.

Some may offer advice that is not spiritual. Saul tried to get David to wear his king’s armor. This represents the world. 

We can’t put on natural defenses to defeat spiritual battles. David depended upon what God said. The armor we wear is not carnal as we find out in Ephesians 6.

All through 1 Samuel 17, the only words that came from David’s mouth were about victory, covenant, and the defeat of the enemy.


  • God's Promises are Our Weapons

With natural strength, defeating this giant looked impossible. But David met the giant, used what was in his hand (his sling and stone), and God did the destroying.

When we sling God’s promises toward any giant we face, our Father’s words slice that enemy to the ground.

If we look at diseases, politics, natural disasters, and newscaster’s predictions, we will be depressed. These words of the enemy can build fear.

But isn’t God’s Word greater than all this? Didn’t He say that all things were possible through Him?

We have a better covenant with God than David did. We have the Holy Spirit residing inside us because of what Jesus did. He took away the power of Satan. All Satan can do is voice threats across the valley at us like Goliath did.

The hedge of Jesus’ blood keeps us in God’s fold. The devil only wins if we give credence to his words.

  • The solution is look to Jesus.

There is a way out of every problem we face. 

What if? Look to Jesus

But there is no way out. Look to Jesus.

The government said this. Look to Jesus.

Look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Romans 10:17 says, So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

We will have faith in whatever we listen to. Do we want faith in Goliath’s words, or do we want faith in Christ, the warrior King?

Are you facing a giant of impossibility? Join the conversation and share your thoughts.

Killing the giants of impossibility (click to tweet)

We will have faith in whatever we listen to. Do we wantfaith in Goliath’s words, or do we want faith in Christ, the warrior King? (clickto tweet)

 

 

 

 

 

 

17 comments:

  1. Yes! Thank you for sharing this truth. You had me at "The world around us is filled with depressing events." Sadly, that's been in my mind's eye the last couple of days. While my brain knows the truth of our God's goodness and Sovereignty, there are times I need to rehear those truths from another source. Thanks for being that reminder with this post. As I once wrote and now have a friend constantly reminding me, my job is to keep my "eyes on Jesus." As you said, "Look to Jesus." Will do!

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    1. Carolyn, thanks for being my new blog friend. I have to remind myself to look to Jesus as well. Too many thing compete for our attention and it takes constant diligence to keep our eyes focused where they should be. Thanks for sharing. Blessings!

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    2. What an insightful post! You call us to do what we resist--being still.

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    3. Nancy, I think being still is one of the hardest things we do as Christians. We seem to want to solve everything on our own. But thankfully, God gives us His Word to draw us back to His wisdom and show us how powerless we are without Him. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!

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  2. Barbara, the story of David and Goliath has inspired me many times. Thanks for helping us apply it to today.

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    1. Debbie, this story is full of lessons we never finish learning from. Thanks for stopping by. Blessings!

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  3. "God's promises are our weapons." I like this so much. We do need to armour ourselves with many spiritual weapons as we fight the good fight! Impossible shouldn't be in our vocabulary. I have a quote hanging in my home ' "I dwell in possibility." Emily Dickinson

    Candyce

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    1. Candyce, thanks for sharing your thoughts and that inspiring quote from Emily Dickinson. I love that! Blessings!

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  4. David's faith and courage are a wonderful example for us. We all face those "giants of impossibility" at times. Saving an old house, surviving grief, or setting you goals after a tragedy come to mind as a few of those giants. But as you remind us, like David showed us, all things are possible through God. Thinking of you in your separation from family. I'm thankful for your prayers.

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    1. David did face more giants than just Goliath. His life, even through his mistakes, are lessons for us. Thanks, Katherine, for stopping by and sharing. Blessings!

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  5. You've packed this post with wise words, my friend. So many things seem impossible that it can be easy to listen to the loud words around us instead of the quiet reassurance of God. Thank you for reminding us of that.

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    1. Those words around us do shout loudly and make us feel like life is impossible. God's reassurance, as you said, Leigh, are the words that bring His possibilities into focus and defeat our doubt. Thanks for sharing. Blessings!

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  6. I love this post! Matthew 19:26 kept ringing in my heart and head. "But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Thank you for this encouraging post Ms. Barbara. You've energized my day, with HOPE! God's blessings my friend.

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    1. Can any more positive words ever be said by anyone than those spoken by Jesus in Matthew 19:26? Those do give us hope that nothing we face can overtake us when we lean on our Savior. Thanks for stopping by and sharing J.D. Blessings!

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  7. I stumbled upon this blog today and praising Jesus for this and every response to it!!!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by and sharing. So thankful to have you here. Blessings!

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    2. Thank you for stopping by and sharing. So thankful to have you here. Blessings!

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