Facing our Fears

We have been talking, over the past few weeks, about some of the challenges we’ve all been facing. Some, more than others but nonetheless, challenges… and how they tore at our hearts and, more sadly, tore at our faith.

I like to think of these challenges as our giants. What is a giant to you? They may be your fears; apprehensions; illnesses; or any other obstacle this world puts before us.

I like to talk a little this morning about these giants and how we’re facing them. Let’ start with some of the challenges (or giants) written about in our Bible and how they were overcome.

Hopefully, this will shed some light on all of us and we might come to realize how to better cope with the difficulties presented to us throughout our lives.

David and Goliath

Let’s begin with the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 (Old Testament). I know you’ve all heard the story and know the outcome but please allow me to tell it once more.

I’d like to take you back about 1,000 years before the birth of Christ. The story tells of a young shepherd boy named David, the son of Jesse, from Bethlehem.

I won’t read to you every verse this morning just to shorten things up a bit, but I encourage you to read this scripture at your leisure to really get a grasp of the power of faith and of our God.

This was during the time when King Saul was ruling over Israel. He was at war with the Philistines and, having lost God’s favor, was losing his fight.

Perhaps facing his last battle, he drew his troops up in the Valley of Elah. The Philistines drew up their battle line across the valley.

A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span… or over 9’ tall.

Verse 8 begins with how Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul?”

He continued, “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”

This continued for a period of about 40 days with no one in Israel’s army willing to face this huge opponent. Who could possibly face such a giant who had been a warrior from his early youth? It seemed as though all hope was lost.

Moving away from the battle-ground for a moment to the place where Jesse and his son David were herding their sheep.

Jesse said to David, “Take these supplies up to your brothers fighting the Philistines and bring back some assurance.” You see David, had three older brothers that had gone to fight with Saul.

Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as his father had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.

Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 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. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

Verse 25 tells how the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”

In Verse 32, it tells how David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” David was obviously talking about himself.

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

But David, adding to his offer, said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.”

“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. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Seemingly frustrated, Saul then said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Saul gave his own armor to David but he, not being used to them, took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

In Verse 45 David boldly addressed the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”

And he went on in Verse 46 “This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

As Goliath moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell, face-down on the ground.

David then ran and stood over him, took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he had killed him, he then cut off his head with the warriors own sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

What else do you think was in David’s tent? Perhaps the claws of the bear or even the mane of the lion? What’s in your tent. How many battles have you already won?

The main point I want you to remember is, David never lost focus on his God.

Daniel and the Lion’s Den

Another story I’m sure you’ve heard. Nonetheless, and once again, I think it’s important that we hear it one more time.

In Daniel 6 (Old Testament) Emperor Darius of the Persian Empire, otherwise known as Darius the Great, had appointed 120 satraps (governors) to rule over his kingdom. He also appointed three administrators over them. One of which was Daniel, of whom Darius was quite fond.

The satraps were made accountable to them (the 3 administrator) so that the king might not suffer loss. Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

At this, being jealous of Daniel’s favoritism with Darius, the administrators and satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.

Finally, these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

So, these jealous administrators and satraps all agreed, and convinced the king that he should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, “except to you, Your Majesty,” shall be thrown into the lion’s den.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went to his home in an upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Despite this new decree, he continued to pray three times a day. He’d get down on his knees and pray, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So, they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

Still urging the king on, they said to the him, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.”

Verse 14 When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Again, being angry at the king’s efforts to save Daniel, they went as a group to Darius and said to him, “Remember, Your Majesty, that according to the law of the Medes and Persians no decree or edict that the king issues can be changed.”

So, against his will, the king gave the order and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lion’s den. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”

A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so Daniel’s situation might not be changed. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep as he was in great distress.

At the first light of dawn, the king got up from his bed and hurried to the lion’s den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?”

Surprisingly, in Verse 21 Daniel answered, “May the king live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

You see, Daniel had not lost faith while amongst the lions. His focus continued, even in peril, to be on his God!

The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

Verse 24 At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought in and thrown into the lion’s den, along with their wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

Verse 26 “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.”

“For he is the living God and he endures forever;
his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues, and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Again, remember Daniel’s focus. Not on the hungry ravenous lions before him, but on his God instead!

Pastor Woody Against Corporate America

Okay, why not end on a personal victory? I’m sure I had mentioned all what I was personally going through over the past few weeks. Allow me just a few more moments to tell you how, with God, I defeated my giants (corporate).

The day came. It was the “Big Meeting!” Here, we were going to hear of the new restructuring of the company. Many people were afraid of their positions and I was not shielded by tenure, knowledge or dedication from possible job elimination.

I had been praying greatly and putting my trust in God to handle all of this. I knew, by my faith, this was God’s battle and there was not way… He would possibly fail me!

More importantly, never once did I ask God to “save my job” or “keep me employed.” I simply prayed every day and gave thanks for His presence in my life. I knew that God knew what was best for me and that’s the way it was going to turn-out.

Here it was, the big day. I arrived early as I always do but something was different about the morning.

The three sets of office blinds I opened every day gave me no trouble whatsoever. You know how it usually goes with blinds… you grab one of two strings and its almost always never the one you wanted. Not today… grabbed the right string on all three sets.

The coffee pot which I normally have to clean, as well as the breakroom countertops, were already prepared and ready for the morning.

I usually have to reboot my computer as it is pretty old and had failed me three or four times already last month. Not this morning. I logged-in perfectly and it ran like a champ.

No, something was different about today. Something was eerily wrong… or was something eerily right?

Now it was nearly 3:00 PM… time for the meeting. I said some last-minute prayers and remembered these two verses from the Bible.

Old Testament

Isaiah 51:16 – “I will give you the words I want you to say. I will cover you with my hands and protect you. I made the heavens and the earth, and I say to Jerusalem, ‘You are my people.’”

New Testament

Luke 12: 11-12 – “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

My turn to speak. We were supposed to deliver six major KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) to the upper-management. Up to the day of this meeting, I really didn’t have a clue what to say.

Not wanting to take anymore of your time… I apparently “Aced It!” As I watched some of the people’s faces as I spoke, they seemed in awe of what I was saying. Obviously, God had once again kept His promise to me. The good news is, I’m not losing my job in the very near future.

Now, to share with you exactly what I felt when I was speaking. From the moment I opened my mouth, I felt the hands of Christ rubbing my neck and shoulders saying, “Relax. Calm down. I’m right here with you!” …and I believed!

Just as David and Daniel had done, I kept my focus on God. I believed completely that He would not abandon me and… as I expected, through Him, I defeated my giant!

In Conclusion

We all have our battles to face. Face them with the knowledge and understanding that you, a child of God, have far greater weapons at your disposal and cannot be defeated.

Like David… as he faced Goliath, the Philistine giant that opposed him, he believed in his Lord. I can assure you that, as he ran towards this mammoth warrior, David’s eyes were not on him. Instead, he was focused on his God and, in doing so, achieved the victory he was promised.

Like Daniel… as he entered the hungry lion’s den. He wasn’t staring at them in fear. Instead, he knelt before his God, asking for mercy… believing he would receive it, and never taking his eyes off the heavens. Once again, focusing on God gave Daniel his victory.

Like Pastor Woody… even in these modern times, still believe in the glorious stories of success from our Bible and BELIEVE that your God is still standing right beside you throughout all of your trials and tribulations… you cannot be defeated!

Finally, remember, the battle is the Lord’s! Trust in the Him. Remember this always. “Never look at God in the light of your giant. Instead, look at your giant in the light of God.”

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Go with God; be good to one another; always stay humble; always be kind… God Bless (Amen)