How a Christian Conquers Life's Giant Challenges | Mark Finley

there are a lot of problems in our life that are giants they terrify us they're huge they're too big for us to solve what Giants are you facing today what challenges what problems what difficulties are almost overwhelming to you what fear strikes your heart what concern terrifies you our message this morning focuses on another battle in the Middle East although this battle took place in another time in another place it has lessons that are vital it's a story that you know well a story that you may have even told your children it's a story about

David and Goliath but yet there are fresh lessons in that story that relate to an Endtime people waiting for the coming of Jesus you might even have taught your children to sing only a boy named David you know that song only a little Brooke I would sing it for you but it would empty the church now a few years ago I led a tour to Israel led many tours to Israel and we went up to the Ila Valley I was in search of kbet kayaa now kbet kayaa was a city that was reported about in

National Geographics and uh this city was a city that was excavated in 2011 by Southern Adventist University team and when they excavated it they had to excavate 200,000 pounds or 200,000 tons of stone I mean it was just an amazing excavation and our team under Dr Michael hosle was there Excavating now let's look at some of the vital lessons we can learn from an experience that took place right here so if you're looking to the left of your screen there's kbet kayaa this is the camp of Israel The Valley in the center is the Ila

Valley here is sukko up on the right where the Philistines camped David came down into that Valley from kbet Gaya Goliath came down from sukko they met in the middle of the valley and they battled together and this is where David slew Goliath now let's look at some of the lessons we can learn here's lesson number one lesson number one puts it this way Giants are huge and Goliath was large and terrifying what are the Giants that you face in your life today I want you to think of giants as something that's huge that you're

facing that's a problem you can't solve I want you to think of giants as something that's absolutely terrifying that strikes fear into your heart 1 Samuel 17 verse 4-7 and a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath he came from gath whose height was six cubits in a span now how much is a cubit a cubit is the distance from the end from the elbow to the end the tip of the finger it's about 18 in that's what a cubit is about a foot and a half so how tall is is

Goliath he is six cubits that's about 9 feet a span the span of your hand so he's over 9 feet 9 feet five inches now if you are are are David how old is David here probably he's in his teens he is not old enough to go into military service so he's back out tending sheep he's not known for his large huge stature so here you have this giant approaching you he's huge he's terrified now also we see something else about the giant verse five he had a bronze helmet on his head he was armed

with a coat of mail the weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze now that's 5 th how much is that 150 PBS 150 pounds now how many of you have ever carried on your back 150 lb pack have some of you carried a pack some of you may have carried a pound 150b but that's not all we get the size of the armor on his legs and the javelin between his soldiers that's a staff of spear like a Weaver's beam look there for example at uh verse five and six in the text it's

quite amazing when you look at it he has this huge huge armor on 150 pounds but in addition to that he has a staff that's the size a Weaver's be he has an iron spearhead that weighs 600 shekels you can hardly even carry that well let's do some comparisons who if you look at sports today who are some of the tallest people in sports well what's the average size of an NBA player 6 feet 6 in what's the average size of an American male 510 what's what's gath over 9 feet tall nine feet tall what

Giants are you facing I want you to think about Goliath's size 9 feet tall so strong and muscular he could he could carry 150 to 200 pounds I want you to think of him taunting the people of Israel 1st Samuel 17:10 says this 1st Samuel 17:10 he says the Philistines says I defy the armies of Israel this day give me a man that we may fight together I defy the armies what Giants are defying you today what Giants are facing you today here was a challenge that was too large for is is to ignore but

too great for them to confront here was a problem that was too big for them to solve but too great for them to run away from here was a difficulty too enormous for them to make believe it didn't exist the armies of Israel could not change the fact that they were confronted with the Giant and there are a lot of problems in our life that are giants they terrify us they're huge they're too big for us to solve in the face of the Giants challenge the men of Israel were confused they were perplexed they were

terrified they were afraid there are times too that we just wish our problems would go away I don't want to deal with this but the giant stands there staring Us in the face what Giants are you facing today what challenges what problems what difficulties are almost overwhelming to you what fear strikes your heart what concern terrifies you we all face Giants in our life not one of us is ever going to get through this world without facing our Giants for some our Giants are health problems financial problems for some our Giants or family issues for

others our Giants may be fear worry or anxiety about some situation that we're facing that's overwhelming for others our Giants may be discouragement despair or doubt for some are giants are Temptations or trials or some trauma we've experienced but here is the incredibly good news our Giants need not traumatize us our Giants need not terrify us our Giants need not discourage us or lead us to despair because because there is a giant slayer in the land Hallelujah David was not intimidated by the giant why wasn't David intimidated by the size of the giant he wasn't

intimidated by the size of the giant because the size of his God was bigger than the size of the Giant he was not troubled by gath's boastful claims because he served a god whose Promises of Deliverance were greater than goas boasts of defeat when things seem out of control God is still in control Giants do not intimidate those whose God Is Bigger Than The Giant Giants only intimidate you if your God is smaller than the Giant when things seem out of control God's in control now the story of David and Goliath has powerful lessons for

us today lesson number one God is always bigger than the biggest giant that you ever face now here is lesson number two often the challenges of life do not disappear quickly we would wish when we prayed oh God I'm praying for this God I want this giant to go away I want him to to leave often the Giants often the challenges of life don't disappear quickly I want to show you something fascinating 1 Samuel 17 ver6 1 Samuel 17 and verse 16 the scripture puts it this way and the Philistine Drew near and presented himself

40 days morning and evening so I want you to think about this statement for a few moments every day for 40 days Goliath entered the valley of ela and shouted his defiant challenge to Israel every day Their Fear grew more intense so it wasn't that Goliath walked into that Valley in one day and said I defy the armies of Israel send down your Warrior not at all how many days did he go there 40 days he walked through that Valley 40 days he said I defy you 40 days their hearts trembled with fear 40 days

they were traumatized often the Giants that we face do not disappear quickly have you ever noticed the number of times in the Bible that 40 is used have you ever noticed that the number of 40 is significant in the Bible and this is what 40 represents as I'm going to show you 40 represents in the Bible always a time of testing and always a time when God is testing our faith to strengthen our faith so 40 is a representation of a God that wants to strengthen your faith in trial and restore your relationship with him

in that trial during this time of trial the B the Holy Spirit leads us to deeper deeper commitment to him so let's look at some times in the Bible where 40 days are used I'll list the text but we won't uh go over them all Noah enters the ark and as he's in the ark it rains for 40 days and 40 nights so just think about that thunderous C flashing light isn't flashing no is in the ark but is testing his faith no is they're praying it's testing his faith that that the ark is going

to survive in that storm look Israel spies out the land for 40 days what's that it's a test of their faith of whether they believe God is powerful enough for them to face the Giants you think of Moses on Mount Si 40 days in Exodus 34 what's that all about it's testing the faith of Israel whether they believe that God is sufficient enough to guide their Nation or we go on you look at Elijah he fasts 40 days as he goes to mount harb uh as he's fasting is God sufficient can God Supply him food

can God challenge the Heathen Jonah preaches to Nineveh 40 days what's this all about it's giving Nineveh time during that period to repent of their sins and it's it's testing their faith Jesus fasts in the wilderness how long does Jesus fast in the wilderness according to Matthew 4:2 how long does he fast there 40 days what's that all about Jesus is preparing for his three and a half years of ministry and he goes and face Temptation Of Satan where he's tested and he gets strength from the father and he says by the word of God

there will be Victory so what is this 40 days all about in each of these instances there's a 40-day period of trial designed by God to give time to develop deeper trust a closer dependence on him and a renewal of spiritual strength now I am not suggesting to you that your trial is only going to go on for 40 days not at all but what I'm saying to you is this many of the trials that we go through in life are not solved in five minutes they're not and God has a Divine Purpose in that

to strengthen our faith when we Face our Giants God often lets us go through a period of testing to deepen our faith and then vividly demonstrate his power life's challenges are not often solved in an instant at times we have prolonged trials and God's purpose in this is to increase our confidence in his power to save and allow us time to develop a belief system that will not fail when times get tough are we facing difficult times in the future of the world are we facing that are we facing times according to Revelation 12 13

and 14 when church and state will unite do we still believe that is that still going to happen indeed it is God is preparing you and me today to face those trials by allowing us to face our Giants and allowing us to know that God is bigger than our Giants and to develop our faith when we face those giants I love what it's put in the book reflecting Christ and in the book reflecting Christ it says this trial is part of the education given in the school of Christ to purify God's children from the dross

of earthliness so if you are facing your giant today if you're facing some trial today you are in the school of Christ and he is working in your life to purify us from our earthliness it is because God is leading his children that trying experiences come upon them wait a minute because God is leading us that's why sometimes we go through trials experience it's exactly trials and obstacles are his chosen methods of discipline and his appointed conditions of success so God allows us at time to go through trials not because he wants to destroy us

but because he wants to deepen our faith and trials and obstacles are what everybody they're his methods of discipline and his appointed conditions of what his appointed conditions of of success we are in the school of Christ in our loving heavenly father is getting us ready for heaven and part of that process is helping us to face our Giants and by the grace of God to slay them our Giants reveal how big our God is the strength of the Giants we face pales into insignificance into the enormity of allmighty God David was just a young

lad with a sling and five smooth Stones his youthfulness and simplicity of the weapons he used the sling and F through Stones only confirm the power of God Giants fall in the face of men and women of Faith who acknowledge their weakness and learn totally to depend on God lesson number one Our God Is Bigger Than The Giants we face lesson number two problems are often not solved in an instant God gives us time to develop Faith lesson number three don't let doubt ever keep you from the victory over your Giants you see David's Brothers

mocked him tried to instill doubt King Saul mocked him declaring that he was incapable of solving the problem they doubted his ability to fight goath and goath mocked him you remember what iLab said his brother you see iLab was David's Older Brother David had a number of brothers and what does his brother say to him his brother says to him hey young man he's not even eligible to to enroll in the Israeli Army hey go back and her your sheep let's look at the text there 1 Samuel chapter 17 ilad speaks to to David he

he he mocks David the and as David comes iLab speaks to him and the and he's yelling out you know and iLab verse 28 now iLab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men and iab's anger was aroused against David he said why did you come down here and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness in other words young boy we're the Army here if we can't fight this Goliath how do you think you ever can fight him go back young boy go back and her your sheep that's where

you belong instilling doubt in David's mind Saul says to him you're just a lad what can you do against a giant and goath mocks him goath says to him I will tear you apart and feed you to the birds God loves to do the impossible God loves it when in our weakness in our Frailty we approach our Giants in the name of Jesus you see doubt robs God of his ability to deal with the situation Faith opens the door for God to work a miracle there is one thing that limits God's ability to Deliver Us

from the Giants we face it's doubt and unbelief you remember in Psalm 78:41 there's a very unusual text can you limit the illimitable one can you limit the illimitable one in describing Psalm 78 ver 41 if you have your Bible turn to it if not we can look at it on the screen Psalm 78:41 can you limit the illimitable one Psalm 78 is the description of Israel wandering in the wilderness and it shows how Israel's unbelief kept them from entering into the promised land God wanted them to go into the promised land but as the

result of their unbelief their doubt of God's power because they saw the Giants and didn't see the power of God because they saw the formidable armies and they didn't recognize that God's angels could have delivered them verse 41 says yet again and again this Psalm 78 they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel what did they do what what's that word that's so key in that text they did what to the Holy One of Israel they did what limited him how did they limit the Holy One of Israel they limit the Holy One

of Israel by their doubt by their unbelief so when we Face our Giants we limit what God can do by doubt and unbelief Hebrews 3: 19 Hebrews 3 and verse 19 for every giant that we Face God will strengthen us to face the giant does this mean that God is always going to miraculously heal us no does this mean that God is always going to miraculously when we need money send a send a million in the mail and we can win the lottery not at all the health wealth and Prosperity Gospel is not the gospel

at all it is humanism but what does it mean when scripture says that uh that that God is going to enable us to face the Giants here's what that means that God is going to strengthen us for whatever problem we face and either he is going to solve the problem or he's going to give us the courage to deal with it look at Hebrews 3: 19 doubt and unbelief Rob god of what God wants to do Faith opens the door for the miracle of God either in our own hearts or in the circumstance Hebrews chapter

3 verse 19 why did they not enter the promised land so we see that they could not enter in because of what unbelief a negative mindset of doubt and unbelief Li what God wants to do for us during those times of life when the giant seems so large It is Well to remember that God is our Giant Slayer during those times of life when the problem seems unsolvable it's important to remember that there's no unsolvable problems for God no challeng is too great for God to handle no difficulty is too difficult for him to unravel

Matthew 19 19: 26 when we Face our Giants we say with God read it off the screen with me Matthew 19:26 reading together with men this is what this is what but With God all things are what do you believe it is God a giant slayer I love what it says in the book my life today page 181 my life today 181 worry is is blind and cannot discern the future but Jesus sees the end from the beginning in every difficulty you how many difficulties everybody every how many difficulties every difficulty he has a way

prepared to bring relief our heavenly father has a thousand ways to provide for us of which we know nothing those who accept the one principle of making the service and honor of God Supreme will find perplexities vanish in a plain path before their feet how many ways does God have to solve our problems how many ways a thousand a thousand that we don't see let me give you a very simple illustration of this that took place when we're building this church a number of years ago 2015 2016 we're getting ready for our grand opening of

the church we had sent out our invitations we needed one final inspection so the inspector came through looked at the church and then he walked out in the parking lot and he walked out on the road and he saw the light out there a car had hit it it was knocked down and he said I can't give you the permit for your gr opening because the you you you own those lights out there I said wait a minute those lights are on the road he said did you know that you own half the road because

it's a private road and your church owns half the road I thought well I'm going to put up a toll booth if we own half that road you know we need a little extra for the church and so anyway that's what he said to me he saidou own half the road and he said we can't give you now you don't go down to Lowe's and buy a light pole that looks like this let me show you the light pole here's the light pole we need so we need a light pole like this you don't go

down to Lowe's and say I want a light pole they don't have them there you don't go down to so I'm thinking Lord we can't open we got to open in five days how many ways does God have to solve our problems how many ways a thousand so I begin to pray and it's good to make friends with people so I made friends I had made friends previously with the manager of this whole shopping center I knew her well I knew her by name I knew I had her personal phone number so I called her

I said look I'm in a real problem I said where can I purchase a light a light pole like that we need a light pole this a giant for us we're gonna open our church we have all these people coming she said Pastor Mark something very strange happened she said you know that store right next to Giant over there she said nobody rented it and we are using that as a storage place and she said I don't know why this happened but the other day I walked in there and there was one light pull on

the floor one light pull on the floor and she said Pastor Mark here is the combination to the lock go down and take that light pole it's my gift to your church so I called the guys up that were working on the church and I said don't wait I'll meet you at that store I know the combination we're getting that light pool and here it is the day we got the light pool and now you're going to see the next picture the day the light pole is up look that was a giant for me you

may say it was a little giant but we had this church rated open God it was God's illustration to me that when we Face our Giants God has a thousand ways to solve that problem did God know that that light pole was in that store all the time did God know that did we know that that light pole was there I had no absolutely no clue that that light pole was there but God knew that light pull was there do you know the solution to the problems you face you don't know them but we can

trust God in every possible situation because God knows the end from the beginning why did God wait to the last minute to reveal where that light PB was because God wanted us to trust him by faith God Is Bigger than any giant you face God often doesn't answer our prayers immediately because he wants us to develop faith and when we doubt and we have unbelief it limits what God can do here's the fourth lesson from the story when you face your giant remember how God has delivered you from some giant in the past when You

Face your giant I want you to take your Bible and turn to 1 Samuel 17 some of you may be facing Giants right now some of you are going to face Giants this week that you don't know anything about first Samuel chapter 17 verse 30-37 why was it that David Avid could face Goliath why could he do that David could face Goliath because he had already tackled a beay and he already tackled a lion and he saw God's Deliverance in the past first Samuel chapter 17 verse 30-37 elab tries to insinuate doubt go back and

work with the Sheep the king tries to insinuate out you're a little boy go back there the Goliath taunts him but what does David say then he turned from him toward another and he said the same thing so they're all taunting it and when The Words which David spoke were heard they reported him to Saul and send for him David says to Saul let no man's heart fail because of him that giant your servant's going to go and fight this Philistine and Saul said to David you're not able to go him you're just a boy

a youth verse 34 David says to him your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion and a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock I went after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it Rose against me I caught it by its beard and struck it and killed it your servant killed both The Lion and the bear and this uncircumcised one will be like one of them seeing he has defied the armies of the Living God moreover David said the Lord who delivered

me now get this don't miss it the Lord who delivered me from the poor of the lion and from the poor of the bear he will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine Saul says to David go and the Lord be with you what does David say does David say I can go in My Own Strength David said look I know God I know God God delivered me from the bear God delivered me from The Lion I have confidence in this God when you are faced with a giant remember three things first remember how

God delivered you in the past secondly review God's past working in your life thirdly rehearse God's goodness in his past dealings with you God has been working in your life and he has not forsaken you and this God is a good god Psalm 27:3 the greatest evidence that God is going to deliver you from your giant is what God has done for you in the past God will not forsake you when you face your Giants Psalm 27:3 scripture says I would have lost heart what's that mean I would have lost heart I would have become

discouraged disappointed I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living David says God's led me in the past and I'm going to see God's goodness when I face my giant Psalm 31 verse 19 Psalm 3 1 verse 19 oh how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you that's who trust you which you have prepared for those who trust you in the presence of the sons of men the goodness of God Psalm 52 verse one David

through the Psalms in spite of the challenges is that he faced in spite of the difficulties that loomed before him in spite of the Giants that he confronted David in the Psalms continually speaks of the goodness of God Psalm 52 verse one why do you boast in evil oh Mighty Man the goodness of God endures continually when you are facing your giant maybe your giant is a health problem maybe your giant is a family problem maybe your giant is a financial problem maybe your giant is a relationship problem maybe your giant is an attitude of

Despair or discouragement watch your giant when you're facing your giant remember the goodness of God rehearse how God has led you in the past recognize that the god of Heaven is a good god focus on God's goodness the more we focus on the Giants the larger the Giants become fear grows as you feed it fear grows as you feed it the more we focus on God's goodness the more we sense his goodness the more our faith grows do you remember the story some of you may have read it Paul Bun's Pilgrims Progress Paul bunan wrote

that in Bedford my wife and I lived in England for a number of years and we went up to Bedford to go through the Museum of Paul bunan he where wrote Pilgrim's Progress and in that story he tells the story of Pilgrim and hopeful and they're traveling you know to the celestial City that's the whole point of it to get from Earth to the celestial City and as they're traveling they come to doubting Castle doubting castle and they get to doubting castle and the giant is in doubting castle and he grabs hopeful he grabs Christian

and he throws them in the dungeon of Despair and so they're in the dungeon of Despair and and and Christian is complaining you know we're in the D of Despair the Giants going to eat us up you know we're in the dungeon of Despair the Giant's going to kill us and hopeful is's trying to encourage you he's trying to encourage him but all day all night Christian is you know he's complaining they're in the dungeon of Despair all we see is the giant but then as they pray through the night and as they're praying Christian

remembers that he has the key of Promise in his sack and he takes out the key of Promise which represents the word of God and confidence in God's word and he opens the prison doors and hopeful and Christian walk out on their Journey to the celestial city are you in doubting Castle are you in doubting Castle do you see the giant right before you here's the incredible good news you've got the Kia promise the promises of God's word and in those promise Promises of God's word they free us from the doubting castle and put us

again on the on the pathway to Celestial City the key that unlocks our doubts and demolishes our fears is faith in the promises of God now there is a fifth lesson from the story David began where he was and he used what he had and the only place to begin is where you are begin with the faith that God has placed in your heart already you might say Pastor my faith is pretty weak take your Bible and turn to Romans chapter 12 Romans chapter 12 I'm speaking to somebody here this morning who is facing a

great giant but you are feeling that your faith is quite weak faith is a gift that God puts in our heart not something that we work up in our human strength and in Romans 12:3 it says for I say through the grace given to me to everyone who's among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think but to think soberly and it's the last part of the verse I'm interested in as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith God has dealt to each one a measure of what

faith where do we get Faith where does that Faith come from God when we come to Christ as a Christian God places within our heart a Measure of Faith as we exercise that faith that Faith grows and Jesus said if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed and you say to this mountain this giant to move it's going to move so as you you exercise the faith that God has given you and do not live in the dungeon of Despair with a heart filled with doubt but as you believe that Jesus is a

giant slayer your faith is going to grow and grow and grow begin where you are now notice all all David has his five smooth Stones all David has is a sling a sling and look why does David have five smooth Stones because Goliath had four brothers and he was going there prepared you send me one giant I'm going to knock him down you send me a second giant he's going to you send me a third giant he's going to David doesn't have five spoth Stones because he thinks he's gonna miss David has five St spones

because he is prepared for every eventuality whatever the devil throws at you whatever the devil throws at you God has those five smooth Stones I began to think about it what are the five smooth stones of Christian faith here are the five smooth stones of Christian faith you know the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 when we Face our giant when we Face Satan the devil wants to intimidate us the devil wants to frighten us the devil wants to scare us the devil wants to terrify us the devil wants to make us think that

he is more mightier than God I thank God that I have in Jesus Christ a giant slayer second Corinthians chapter 10 we're looking there at verse four and five for the weapons of our Warfare did David have some weapons he had a sling didn't he and five smooth stones but the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal it's not our wisdom that we fight Satan with it's not our strength strength that we fight Satan with it's not our arguments that we fight Satan with it's not our human power they're not carnal but the mighty in

God for the pulling down of strongholds casting down arguments in every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to The Obedience of Christ here are the five smooth stones that God has given us in his word to slay the giant every time here they are first prayer Psalm 46:10 God is our refuge in strength a very present help in time of what trouble therefore will not we fear though the Earth be removed and the mountains carried into the midst of the sea though the waters swell thereof look

at verse 10 in 46 be still and know that I am God Psalm 46 verse 10 what does God do when you are facing a giant that you cannot hand handle facing a giant that is bigger than you Facing a Giant that terrifies you God calls us to find strength and power in prayer Psalm 46:10 he says don't be frustrated don't let your stomach be in a whirl don't let your head be in heada headache fashion be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Nations I'll be exalted in the

Earth the Lord of hosts is with us the god of Jacob is our refuge find in God our strength find in God our power the second smooth stone is the word of God Acts 20 verse 32 the word of God the word of God builds us up when we feel weak the word of God strengthens us when we feel frail the word of God enables us to face the power of the evil one Acts 20 verse 32 Paul says now Brethren I commend you to God and the word of his grace which is able to

build you up and give you an inheritance among all those that are Sanctified look when you are facing a giant in your life God Is Bigger Than The Giant Come To God In Prayer be still and know that I am God when you're feeling weak no the word of God will Build You Up reach out not in doubt but in faith Hebrews 11 verse 5 Hebrews 11 vers verse 5 the five smooth stones to slay any giant that you face Hebrews 11 verse 5 notice what it says he that comes to God must believe that

he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him so we come to God in faith we pray we spend those Still Moments seeking God's strength we come to the word of God and we are built up we come by faith and and believing that he is a rewarder to those that diligently seek him we claim the promises of God second Peter chapter 1 second Peter chapter 1 you see the devil wants to terrorize us the devil wants to intimidate us but in the face of Prayer in the face of the

word of God in the face of of of faith God is indeed a giant slayer second Peter chapter 1 we come armed with the promises of God's word notice speaking of those promises 2 Peter 1 ver4 by which have been given to us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped we escape the giant of fear we escape the giant of worry we escape the Giants of problems before us having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust and how do we do that

by claiming the promises of God and lastly what's that fifth smooth stone look at Psalm 50 verse 23 Psalm 50 verse 23 church when the giant stands before us we kneel before God In Prayer when the giant boasts of his victory we boast of the word of God when the Giant insinuates doubt we speak faith when the giant claims what he's going to do we quote the promises of God when the giant tries says I'm going to defy you what do we do Psalm 50 verse 23 whoever offers praise glorifies me and to him who

orders his conduct a right I will show the salvation of God we praise God and we see his salvation now one thing that the devil wants us to do is this run from our problems and here's a principle never run from your problems when you're facing the giants run to Jesus because if you try to run from your problems they are going to run to you look what David did 1 Samuel chapter 17 verse 48 David did not run from his problems our problems are not solved when we try to run away from them because

you try to run away a problem the Giants are only going to mightily harass us they're only going to chase us will we try to flee from them 1 Samuel chapter 17 verse 48 notice what the scripture says and it was so when the Philistine arose and came and Drew near to meet David that David hastened and ran toward the Army to meet the Philistine then David put his hand in his bag took out a stone slung it struck the Philistine in his forehead so the stone struck in the forehead and he fell on his

face on the earth David jumps on him takes his sword cuts off his head and so David approaches him with those five smooth stones and David says in verse 47 the battle is the Lords and God is going to give him to me the victory is the Lord we come with our five spoth stones we don't run from our problems we don't make believe our problems don't exist we we don't try to dodge our problems we come and we confront the enemy with prayer we confront the enemy with the word of God we confront the

enemy with faith we confront the the enemy and with the promises of God's word we confront the enemy with with praise and we remember this throughout the Bible David is mentioned more than any other single individual David is mentioned more than 1100 times in the Bible why because David in a sense was a type of Christ after his victory over Goliath David becomes the king of Israel he is a type of Jesus the true king of the universe who who's never lost a battle with giants David was King by Divine ordination Christ was chosen from

all eternity to be the supreme ruler the king of the universe the monarch of all mankind David assails the giant Jesus asals the Giants we Face David assails the strong Fortress of his foes Christ Our warrior king lays Siege to the human heart fortified against him by unbelief doubt and sin he summons it to surrender he brings the battery of Truth against the walls of the heart he promises pardon if we open the gates he promises strength if we open the gates David conquered the Fortress and dwelt in it Jesus conquers the Fortress of our

hearts David slew Goliath and Jesus slays the Giants that so torment us the greatest giant that we face is the Fallen Angel Lucifer by name he is too much for us his power is too great for us to overcome his deceptions are too cunning he's always there to deceive and hassle us but Jesus is stronger than the evil one he's more powerful than any of his greatest Temptations more mightier than his strongest appeals Jesus is King of Kings Jesus is Lord of lords Jesus is our our mighty warrior in battle Jesus is our light in

the darkness Jesus is our refuge in the time of storm Jesus is the Strong Tower we can flee to in times of difficulty Jesus Is Our Savior Our Risen Lord our interceding priest our coming King and Jesus Hallelujah is our Giant Slayer he has never lost a battle yet this week face your Giants with the confidence that INR Christ by Christ through Christ you'll be victorious let Faith demolish doubt and live in the joy of the Lord let's pray together and as we pray is there somebody here today that you are facing a giant too

big for you to handle a giant that's so great that at times it terrifies you and you just want to say Jesus I sense today that you're bigger than any Giant and today I want to approach my Giants with my five smooth stones of Prayer of the word of faith of the promises of God In Praise and Lord I want to leave this place here today not with doubt and unbelief but with confidence in a God that slays Giants is there somebody here today that's facing a very specific Giant and you want to say Jesus

by faith I grasp your strength as the Giant Slayer just lift your hand as we pray oh my father in the quietness we come we come to a Jesus who's never lost a battle with Satan yet we come to a Christ who invites us to face our Giants a Christ that tells us that we're not going to be able to avoid Giants they're going to confront us we can't run from them but a Christ that's bigger than any difficulty greater than any challenge larger than any problem so we trust you oh Lord may we see

the Giants before us tumble and we'll praise your name from now through all eternity in Christ name amen