FACING GIANTS CONCLUSION

Several weeks ago, we began a series of articles on overcoming the giants we face in our daily lives. As we have considered these, we have discussed the dangers they present and some ways of dealing with them. When we began, we looked at the Israelites as they were preparing to enter Canaan. When Moses sent out the twelve spies they came back with a disturbing report.

31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.33 “There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight” (Numbers 13:31-33).

I think it is important to note both what is said and what is not said in this passage. First, they said they were grasshoppers in their own sight, then they were such in the sight of the giants. Someone has said no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. Part of their problem was how they saw themselves. If you think you can, you are right. If you think you can’t, you are right. The human mind is a very powerful thing. It can help bring about victory or defeat in any situation. Be careful of what you think.

Second, notice what is not said. Where is any mention of God? Look again at verse 31. “We are not able to go up against the people.” You know what, they were right. Listen to the words of Joshua and Caleb in 14:8 - “If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ Their confidence was not in their own abilities, but in the Almighty God. In Deuteronomy 9, Moses assures the people victory in possessing the Promised Land. The question was, “Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?” (9:2). He gives the answer in verse 3: “Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.” It was necessary that they were obedient, but they slew the giants because they trusted in God.

What about us? As we face these giants today, do we face them alone? Do we rely on our own strength and intelligence to slay the giants? Yes, we must be obedient; we must do everything in our power. However, we will never be able to slay the giants alone. It is only when we place our confidence and trust in God that victory is assured.
--Lamar