“Where can we go? Our brothers have made us lose heart. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ “
Deuteronomy 1:28 (New International Version)
My in-laws had an amazing 14 foot ceiling in their living room in the home they recently moved from. There is something about height that makes everything appear larger than it really is. Although the room was ample in size, the high ceilings gave an added grandeur and spaciousness to the true dimensions of the actual floor space. I loved walking into the front door because the added height gave the sense that I could breathe and have plenty of elbow room.
I loved height in that room. I do not like height in other situations. Rob and I recently stayed in a hotel room on the 14th floor. The hotel was built like a cylinder with the lobby at the very bottom of the shape of a soup can. The rooms were built into the cylinder shape on the outside with open space in the middle of all the floors. I went out on the balcony and looked over. The cars in the parking lot looked like toy Tonkas. I had a horrible fluttery feeling in my stomach that made me glance for only a second and then go back into the room where I didn’t have to look at how far above the ground I was.
Height plays with our minds. It can make us think that something is bigger than it really is and that we are in jeopardy. There is a Biblical story that illustrates this point beautifully in I Samuel 17. Many of us who were brought up with Bible stories have heard about David and the giant Goliath. Every young boy secretly thrills about the thought of toppling a giant with a stone. But before David arrived on the scene, the nation of Israel had been threatened by this giant for forty days, twice a day.
Every morning and evening the giant would come out to boast about his greatness to a terrified army. Goliath was a hulk of a man. My NIV Bible says that he was over nine feet tall. One of the commentaries I read said that after coming up with the Biblical measure for a cubit, the giant could have been eleven feet, four inches tall. He would shout out murderous, blasphemous threats to King Saul and his men. And they reacted like anyone who believes what they see with their eyes. They were powerless to do anything but listen and grow more and more discouraged everyday.
Who is your giant today, girlfriend? What is that looming eleven foot, four inch tall monster telling you today that blasphemes the Lord our God? Is it an issue with fear–fear over the future, fear over your children, fear over your finances, fear over your job security or your husband’s? I wish I had known these verses as a young child:
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
11 They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Revelation 12:10-11 (NIV)
Do you know how relentless our enemy, Satan, is? He accuses us day and night before God. He is a lying murderer and a thief. He murders our hope and steals our joy. It gives him no greater delight than to lead you and I astray. But the sad thing is, sweet sisters, we can believe in his power against us when the reality is that he is a defeated foe. When all we see is his height and hear his booming voice, we think he has the ability to conquer us. Why can’t we get out from under this suffocating fear? Why can he wreak such havoc with our mind and emotions? Because we do not come back at him with the word of our testimony and the blood of Jesus Christ.
“It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak and we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-11 (NIV)
When the fearful giant is in front of us, we must speak what we believe:
Jesus,
The LORD himself goes before me and will be with me; You will never leave me nor forsake me. I will not be afraid; I will not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8
No weapon formed against me will prosper and I will refute every tongue that accuses me. Isaiah 54:17
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
I am more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ my Lord. Romans 8:37
You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
You will bring me safely to my heavenly home. 2 Timothy 4:18
“O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but I trust in the name of the LORD my God. Psalm 20:6-7
Now faith is being sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. Hebrews 11:1
And without faith it is impossible to please You, because anyone who comes to You must believe that You exist and that You reward me for earnestly seeking You. Hebrews 11:6
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. Psalm 18:10
We have no power in ourselves to conquer the looming giant in front of us. His height and his threats are nothing before our God. Let’s stop believing that the opposite is true. Our Jesus has all the power and has given it to us! Let’s bring that giant down by the blood of Christ and the word of our testimony to the greatness and all-sufficiency of the true Victor!
