What are you facing today that makes you think your own restoration and this marriage restoration is too big to conquer? What is your biggest obstacle that you see, so that if I asked you, “brother, what is the single biggest thing facing you today?” What would your answer be?
I realize that the marriage restoration journey will have formidable challenges, such as addictions, adulteries, shame, loneliness, doubt, financial hardship, a hardness of heart/lack of affection from spouses. One of these could be your giant and I would like us to explore how giants were overcome in the Bible.
2 Samuel 21:20-22
And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David's brother, struck him down. These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
1 Chronicles 11:10-11 and 22-23
Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel. This is an account of David's mighty men: Jashobeam, a Hachmonite, was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against 300 whom he killed at one time.
And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was a valiant man of Kabzeel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two heroes of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. And he struck down an Egyptian, a man of great stature, five cubits tall-(about 7.5ft)-. The Egyptian had in his hand a spear like a weaver's beam, but Benaiah went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear.
Until recently, I did not think about these as giants literally because today we use the word giant so casually. However, these biblical accounts of these enemies are factual giants -more than 7.5 feet tall! Yet, because the Lord was with the armies and the soldiers of David, they defeated and vanquished the giants. There was no shrinking back and turning around. So, no matter what you are facing now, the presence of the Lord is more than enough to finish off your giants. The favour and blessing of the Lord where all David’s men needed to defeat these giants who stood in their way. You have this same favour and power with you when you are in right standing with the Lord. The size of the giant did not intimidate these soldiers of David. So I am telling you now, do not be intimidated by your giants.
But if we react in fear, lack faith and turn back because the giant-sized problem is bigger than us, then we get no miracle. Many years before this account, David did not shudder and retreat from Goliath lest they would have had no giant slaying that day. Fearing your giant will not give you victory. You have to take that giant down because with the Lord you will have victory. How will you take this giant down? You will use the weapons of the biblical warfare- prayer, praise, faith, and the word of God.
During the time the Israelites were in the wilderness, they sent spies into Canaan who came back and had seen the giants in that land. Only 2 of the 12 spies had faith to say the Israelites could defeat the giants. In fact, faced with the report of giants the Israelites rebelled, preferred to go back to Egypt, showed no faith and even talked of stoning Moses and Aaron. The Lord was so displeased with them that He said none of those children of Egypt would enter the promised land apart from Caleb and Joshua.
One author estimates that 2 million Israelites left Egypt with Moses but only 2 entered the promised land. Why? Lacking Faith, primarily, and provoking the Lord’s anger with sin and rebellion. So today, please believe the Lord is stronger, bigger, mightier than what giant sized complex problems, situations, or circumstances you are standing up against. Challenge yourself to not be lost in the wilderness that is this world. Push towards our promised land.
Personally. I probably have to say my biggest giant was outright hostility from my wife. I praise the Lord who saw me go through that because it eventually died away.
Numbers 13:30-32
But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.” So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height (giants).”
Numbers 14: 6-9 (ESV)
And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.”
Brother, sister, the Lord is with us; do not fear them.
Tad RESTORED in Australia
Odelia RESTORED in Australia