We all face obstacles in life. But sometimes our problems are truly of giant proportions. Now is the time to prepare for these giant challenges and not when they rear their ugly heads. By then it's often too late. In this article we'll learn 5 requirements for overcoming the giant problems in our lives from the ancient story of David and Goliath.
Every week I publish my sermon notes so that you may read them for yourselves. For my parishioners, this could be a good review from the weekend before. And it gives you a chance to see what I intended to say! For other pastors and ministers, feel free to borrow and use any of this material. I'd love for God to be glorified by you incorporating these notes into your own worship.
Summer Singles Part 13: Overcoming Giants Part 2 - 09.02.12 / Scripture: 1 Samuel 17 NIV
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Intro: Today we continue our study of David and Goliath. Last week we examined 5 truths of the really big - GIGANTIC - problems of life. These are not just your run-of-the-mill, everyday kind of problems. These are...
#1 - My toughest problems appear ___GIGANTIC___ !
#2 - My toughest problems appear ___INSURMOUNTABLE___.
#3 - My toughest problems appear ___TO REMOVE ALL OPTIONS___.
#4 - My biggest challenge with GIANT problems is ___F.E.A.R.___.
#5 - When FEAR paralyzes us, problems __NEVER JUST GO AWAY__.
Sometimes people romanticize the story of David and Goliath. That can only be done from this side of history. Everyone - including the king - was afraid. The Israelites were paralyzed. Until David came along. Today we study how David responded and how we also can choose to respond!
Today’s Single: God grants me the power to ___OVERCOME GIANT PROBLEMS___.
We see in David’s response, 5 requirements for overcoming giant problems. These are all requirements, none are optional.
#6 - Overcoming giant problems requires a ___DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE___ .
David had not been in the camp for the last 40 days. He wasn’t subjected to the fear day after day that Israel had suffered.
“David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.” 1 Samuel 17:22-23 NIV
David had a different perspective. He was able to look at the same thing that everyone else was looking at, but he saw it differently. We’ll talk more about this in a moment, but the first thing you have to be willing to do to overcome the gigantic problem you are facing is to be willing to see it differently. Is there something you hadn’t already considered? Is there another way to view this giant?
Sometimes we have to admit that we are stuck. Like the Israelites, we have lived with the giant problem for such a long time we just can’t make our brains think about it differently. Every time we think about the problem we have the same response (v.24): run in fear! If that’s the case for you, consider finding someone who is willing to think differently than you and others. Find a godly man or woman, maybe with more experience than you, and ask them to help you be the David in your life. This needs to be someone who can T.H.I.N.K. rather than fear. (From last week: Test every thought. Helmet your head. Imagine what God could do. Nourish a godly mind. Keep on growing.) Then listen to what they say!
#7 - Overcoming giant problems requires a ___GOD VIEWPOINT___ .
David had that ability to T.H.I.N.K. He had spent his young life immersing himself in God’s way of thinking. Here’s what he said:
“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” 1 Samuel 17:26b NIV (also v. 45)
How was David’s viewpoint different than the rest of the Israelite army? Two parts of this verse you want to understand. 1st - We see “uncircumcised” as a medical procedure. For the Israelites, this was what identified them as the people of God. Since the days of Father Abraham, every Israeli man must be circumcised. It was a sign of family, of nationhood, and of the people of God. 2nd - when Goliath defied the army, he called them the army of Saul (v.8 “servants of Saul.”) This, no doubt, was how the Israelites saw themselves. Not David. He understood this to be the army of the living God. To defy this army was to defy God Himself.
Do we consider our giant problems only in the light of how this impacts us humanly and personally? Or are we willing to consider this problem in the term of Kingdom fighting? Politics, arguments, threats all pale when we think of them against the might of God!
#8 - Overcoming giant problems requires a ___WILLINGNESS TO BE MISUNDERSTOOD___ .
You might imagine that David’s bravery and godliness would be met with cheers of support, especially from his family. Not so much.
“When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.’” 1 Samuel 17:28 NIV
You cannot choose to take God’s viewpoint in the midst of a gigantic crisis without also choosing to be misunderstood. The two go hand in hand. When you take a different view than someone else, and connect it with godly principles, people will be offended. Consider Eliab’s reaction: anger, challenging, minimizing, character assassination, questioning motivations. When this happens, you’re bound to feel you’ve been blindsided, like David: “Now what have I done?” You expect this from the enemy.
You don’t expect it from your family and from other Christians. But this is often where it comes from. Don’t minimize this requirement. I’m convinced that more people DON’T STAND UP FOR GOD not because they don’t know the right thing to say, but because of the fear that comes to them from what others will say about them. Bottom line, we often value our own reputation too much to stand up for God’s viewpoint. Never forget: being a Christian will cost you.
#9 - Overcoming giant problems requires a ___HISTORY OF OVERCOMING SMALLER OBSTACLES___ .
The Bible provides us a pattern for overcoming giant problems. We start by overcoming smaller problems, trusting in God to help us. This was what gave David his confidence before King Saul (v 34-36)
“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” 1 Samuel 17:36 NIV
David saw the giant Goliath as just another in a long line of God’s enemies. The lion and the bear that would dare attack the sheep of God’s family were where David learned to fight giants.
One of the reasons we are so overwhelmed by the giant problems of life is that we’ve never learned to trust God to handle the smaller problems of life. Even Jesus taught us that how we handle the smaller things is how God knows we can handle the bigger.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much...” Luke 16:10a NIV
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
Matthew 25:21 (also v. 23)
Don’t shirk off the smaller problems as something you can handle on your own. Look for godly solutions in how you conduct all your solutions. Then you’ll be prepared - like David - for the Goliaths.
#10 - Overcoming giant problems requires a __FULL COMMITMENT_ .
This is the part of the David and Goliath story we often don’t like to tell our little ones. Remember, this is not a fairy tale. This is real life.
“This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.” 1 Samuel 17:46 NIV
We want to tell the story right up to the point that David slings the stone and knocks Goliath unconscious. That’s not where the story ends. David promises to cut off Goliath’s head in v. 46 and then does it in v. 51. David was fully committed and followed through!
Often when we are facing giant problems in life, we can talk a good game. We know the Christian lingo. We say we know that God is able. We say the right prayers. We make the right promises. But what do we do? Do we take the steps of faith necessary to cut off the head of the giant facing us? Do we want to be nice? Or do we want to serve God with all of our hearts and actions.
Sometimes serving God is not all fun and games. Sometimes we must realize that we really are in a fight to the death for our souls and must respond with actions that are just as fully committed as our words!
Conclusion: This is not just an OT teaching. This is at the very heart of the NT story as well. God did not use any halfway measures when it came to conquering sin for us. Jesus didn’t just teach. He didn’t just give us a nice philosophy. We like to think of Jesus as a kind of hippy philosophy professor who gave us a better way to live with one another.
But there was nothing halfway about his obedience to God when it came to the solution of the giant problem of sin! Consider Jesus’ most vulnerable moment:
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 NIV
What are the giant problems you are facing? Are you willing to consider the possibility that this is not just your problem, but God’s? Are you willing to consider that God may be teaching you how to depend upon Him for His solution? Are you willing to take a different viewpoint, not looking at your problems in relation to yourself, but in relationship to God? If you do this, you’re problems won’t seem so giant anymore.
