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The Giant you Fear is Afraid of you! January 20, 2008 1 Samuel 17:44-46 2 Kings 7:3-8 When God helps you, He
takes you from the place you were and brings you to a much better place. God
does not deliver you out of slavery, lack, or sickness and put you back to
slavery, lack, or sickness. The people of Israel got delivered from slavery
in Egypt but they ended up staying in the wilderness for forty years before
arriving into the promised land. God’s intention, however, was not to leave
them in the wilderness. His intentions were to take them out of Egypt and
lead them into the land where “milk and honey flows.” However, the
Israelites began to complain to God saying, “You brought us out here to kill
us.” This wasn’t God’s intention but that’s what the Israelites thought of
Him. Therefore, that’s how they ended up. Wrong view of God always leads to
wrong was of living. The Israelites thought that God was trying to kill them
and that’s what ended up happening to them. If they hadn’t complained they
would’ve reached the promised land in the time God had intended them to.
Complaining just makes you stay in the wilderness, never reaching the
promised land. Before the Israelites were
to arrive into the promised land, twelve spies were sent out to spy out the
land that God had prepared for them. When the spies came back, ten of them
began complaining, saying that the people in the land were too scary and the
Israelites will never be able to fight them and win. However, the other two
spies, Joshua and Caleb began to encourage everyone saying that God is with
them and that they could do it. Joshua and Caleb were able to see what God
saw. They didn’t rely on their own understanding but they relied on God. The
rest of the Israelites relied on what the other ten spies told them so they
ended up staying in the wilderness for forty years until every single one of
them were dead. Joshua and Caleb were the only two from the old generation
who made it into the promised land because they saw what God saw. Unless you
see what God sees, you’ll never reach the promised land. Upon arriving to the
promised land, two Israelite spies were sent over to Jericho to “look over
the land.” When they got there a woman named Rahab tells them in Joshua
2:9-11, “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great
fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are
melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the
water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to
Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you
completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted and everyone's
courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above
and on the earth below.” Here Rahab revealed that their enemies were scared
of them the whole time the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness. They
stayed in the wilderness for forty years, when during all those years their
enemies were waiting in terror for them, because of what God has done for
them. Again, the giant you fear
is afraid of you. In 2 Kings 7:3-8 we see
four men with leprosy who had a heart of determination.
They decided that instead of dying at the entrance of the city gate
they would go into the land of the Arameans. When they arrived, the Lord
caused the “Arameans to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a great
army,” so they fled and left all they had behind. When four people came out
with a heart of determination, the whole army that the Israelites were
scared of fled. It is about time we
realize that our enemy is scared of us. The enemy has been afraid of us
since day one, 2000 years ago. Colossians 2:14-15 tells us that, “having
wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was
contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the
cross. Having disarmed principalities and
powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
Jesus had already stripped the devil of all that he had and made a “public
spectacle” of him. Since that day, the devil has been afraid of us because
of Jesus Christ. When you understand the power and authority that has been
given to you through Jesus Christ, you will not be scared of any weapon of
the enemy because you will turn it and use it against him. For example,
David was confident in the Lord when he went to face Goliath. Even though he
wasn’t nearly as big and as strong as Goliath and didn’t have any of the
weapons Goliath possessed, he was sure that God was on his side and will
help him. He didn’t even have a sword but he said, “I’ll cut you head,” by
faith. In the end David ended up using Goliath’s own weapon against him. He
took Goliath’s sword and cut his head off. Everything that David’s enemy had
against him, he was able to turn it around and use it against his enemy
because he trusted on the Lord to do what seemed impossible. Two ways to conquer your
giant: 1) You need to take what
God has done for you in the past and claim that the God that helped you back
then will help you now. 2) Be confident when you
proclaim something. For example, David didn’t speak fearfully. Instead he
was confident when he said that he will put him down or that he will cut his
head. David didn’t keep his mouth shut, but rather he proclaimed victory
because he knew that the Lord, who is always victorious, was on his side. Preached
by: Pastor Teddy
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