17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. And his shield-bearer went before him.
1 SAMUEL 17:1-7
The Philistines were defying war against the Israelites on Judah’s territory. Instead of fighting back and chasing out their enemy, Saul and the men of Israel gathered and encamped in the Valley. And every day, their eyes were surveying their enemy and the Giant Goliath. They knew how big and robust Goliath was very well, but that was not enough to help them win the battle. Instead, the longer they encamped and set their eyes on Goliath, the more fearful and dreadful they became. The Philistines dared to defy God’s nation, but there was no mention of anyone from Saul’s army calling out for God’s help?!
We all have our giants in life. Just like how the Philistines waged war on Israel’s territory, often giants show up in our life obnoxiously. We indeed need to know our giant to face it and fight with it. However, knowing it and meditating on it is not enough to claim victory over it. More important is that we need to know who is on our side, whom we can call for help, and where our strength and power are from. And the answer points to only one Name – Jesus. Our giant may appear to be great and big, but as we read on to the rest of the story, we see that the size of the giant does not matter when the living God is on our side. “For He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”. (1 John 4:4). Our God is great and mighty! We should meditate and set our eyes on Him.
Dear Father, You are the Almighty and you are greater than anyone in the world. Help me to set my eyes upon you instead of setting them on the giants I encounter in life. Give me the strength and power to face them.
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