The Battle is Not Yours to Fight!

Oftentimes, as we venture through this thing called life, we find ourselves confronted by giants that seek to intimidate us. Often, these are only giants because we have allowed them that opportunity of intimidation; we have viewed them in such a manner through our physical eyes and have allowed them to frighten or discourage our forward progress. But whatever the reason, the fact remains that they are giants to us. Whenever they raise their ugly head in our lives, we become terrified and retreat to a place of safety and security.

In my years in ministry, Satan has often thrown giants into my path. The feelings of being incapable to continue forging on along the path GOD is leading become overwhelming. Fright and discouragement as others who have been strong ministry partners begin to disappear and before long it is as though you are the only one standing any longer. I have been through it many times. I have traversed paths with fear and trembling, wondering if GOD was even there any longer. Wondering if GOD even cared what I was going through. Yet, there was always that calm feeling of assurance inside that He was there no matter how difficult the journey seemed to be.

We can turn to 1 Samuel 17 and there find an incident similar to these giants that come into our lives. David had gone out to check up on his brothers who were in the midst of a battle against the Philistines. As he was talking to them, Goliath the giant stepped out and began to ridicule GOD and the Israelite army. In verse 24, the Scripture reads: “When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.” The giant created quite a stir among the Israelite army, such that they ran from him, terrified.

But David stood his ground. He refused to allow the giant to intimidate him; rather, he determined in his heart to bring that giant down to the ground. Picking up at verse 45 and following we read these courageous words David spoke to the giant: “David said to the Philistine, You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies- you have defied Him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us” (1 Samuel 17:45-47).

David  recognized that defeating the giant would not happen by anything within his own power. Rather, he knew that this battle belonged to the LORD and it would be the LORD who would bring the victory to David. When Satan throws giants in our path, we must recognize that the battle is not ours but it belongs to the LORD. The victory comes through trusting in Him. Whatever you might be going through today, give it over to the LORD and there you will find victory!