“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” – Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
I am so thankful that my parents have taught me and my siblings the ways of the Lord as we have grown up. They have not done it perfectly, but they have shown us an authentic walk with Jesus in the midst of their success and failures. They have never pressured us to follow Jesus but have pointed us to Jesus through their own lives and the ways they continue to remind us who is our Rock. I have not always listened, or liked what they’ve had to say 🙂 However, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and never returns empty. (Hebrews 4:12, Isaiah 55:11) It has been His Words that has stuck and produced life change in my life and much of that has been instilled in my life through my parents. Perhaps many people in our situation wouldn’t want scripture poured at them, sometimes it can feel trite. We understand that, however, we also know that the Word of God is Life and there is no other place to find true Life than in Him. My mom has been amazing over the last couple of weeks as nearly every day she has pointed me to passages in God’s word that He’s been using in her life as she walks through this with us and they have consistently pointed me to Jesus and ministered to my heart. Today she sent me this from her time with the Lord this morning and I wanted to share because it is not just Kevin and I and our families that are facing “Giant’s” in our life that can seem insurmountable but I know there are many reading this who have their own giants.
A GIANT IN THE ROOM
Reading through 1 Sam 16 and 17 I observed that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, the anointed king…he had been disobedient to God’s commands, he did things his way and so God placed His hand upon a young man, David who did have a heart for His God and a respect for His ways. In fact, in chapter 17 the great David and Goliath encounter occurs. Saul wanted to equip David with heavy armor for protection but David was encumbered by it, through it off. He was willing to defend the name of God and believed he could defeat this giant in the room because God would give the victory. “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” As David approached Goliath he declared, “You come to me with a sword , a spear and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have taunted.” He then slayed the giant with one stone.
We have a giant in our lives now..and it is grief, it is pain, it is shock , and it is daily. But this is a reminder that our great God can deliver me from this daily as I draw upon my God for daily victories.
I will not be defeated by the tauntings of this giant. Psalm 59 is David’s cry for help and strength as Saul continued to hunt him down. His response to this constant threat to personal peace of mind and heart and body was his declaration:
Because of His strength I will watch for Thee, for God is my stronghold, my God in His lovingkindness will MEET me. God will look triumphantly upon my foes.
But for me, I shall sing of Thy strength, yes joyfully sing of Thy lovingkindness in the morning. For Thou has been my stronghold and a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to Thee. For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.
Yes Lord, you enable me to slay this giant of anxiety, heaviness, doubts…with praise and a song to you each morning. You cherish each of my tears and accept me in my distress.
I am camping at your feet Lord…and you deliver me daily.
- A Time to be Silent and a Time to Speak - October 29, 2020
- Teaching Them to Hope, Birthday After Birthday. - January 15, 2020
- A Taste of Hope Fulfilled – Briella Dawn’s Birth Story - August 3, 2018
