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Five Tools to Take Down Your Giant- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Locato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. I'm
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  Speaker 1: so glad you joined me as we wrap up this
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  Speaker 1: Facing Your Giants series based on this book that I
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  Speaker 1: wrote some time ago, I want to leave you with
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  Speaker 1: some practical and tactical tools to help you overcome the
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  Speaker 1: Goliaths in your life. Let's think back to David on
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  Speaker 1: the battlefield and examine the five stones that he chose
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  Speaker 1: to take down the giant. These oversized bullies still stalk.
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  Speaker 1: You know you're Goliath. You recognize his walk, the thunder
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  Speaker 1: of his voice. He taunts you with bills you can't
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  Speaker 1: pay and people you can't please and habits you can't break,
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  Speaker 1: failures you can't forget, and a future you can't face.
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  Speaker 1: Your giant can show up anywhere, anytime. But you may
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  Speaker 1: have noticed he's particularly fond of nighttime. He wakes you
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  Speaker 1: up with words of worry. He talks more trash than
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  Speaker 1: you hear on the basketball court. You don't have what
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  Speaker 1: it takes. You come from a long line of losers.
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  Speaker 1: He's your giant, your Goliath. Given half a chance, he'll
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  Speaker 1: turn your night into his valley of Elah, taunting and
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  Speaker 1: teasing you. Remember how Goliath misbehaved? 1 Samuel chapter 17
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  Speaker 1: and verse 16 says, For forty days, twice a day,
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  Speaker 1: morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of
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  Speaker 1: the Israelite army. Goliaths still roam our world. Debt, disaster, danger, disease,
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  Speaker 1: challenges still swagger and strut and steal your sleep, peace
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  Speaker 1: and joy. But just like David, you can face your
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  Speaker 1: giants today. because now you know they can't dominate you.
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  Speaker 1: You know how to deal with them. You face your
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  Speaker 1: giants by facing God first. Here's the rule. Focus on giants,
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  Speaker 1: you stumble. But focus on God, your giants tumble. You
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  Speaker 1: know what David knew, and you do what David did.
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  Speaker 1: You pick up five stones, and you make five decisions.
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  Speaker 1: Ever wonder why David took five stones into the battle.
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  Speaker 1: Why not two or twenty? Rereading his story reveals five answers.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, use your five fingers to remind you of
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  Speaker 1: the five stones you need to face down your Goliath.
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  Speaker 1: Let your thumb remind you of the stone of the past.
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  Speaker 1: Goliath jogged David's memory. While everyone else quivered, David remembered
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  Speaker 1: God had given him strength to wrestle a lion and
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  Speaker 1: strong arm a bear. Wouldn't he do the same with
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  Speaker 1: the giant? David tells Saul in 1 Samuel 17 verses
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  Speaker 1: 34 through 36, your servant used to keep his father's sheep.
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  Speaker 1: And when a lion or a bear came and took
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  Speaker 1: a lamb out of the flock, I went out after
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  Speaker 1: it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth.
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  Speaker 1: And when it arose against me, I caught it by
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  Speaker 1: its beard and struck it and killed it. Your servant
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  Speaker 1: has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine
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  Speaker 1: will be like one of them, seeing that he has
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  Speaker 1: defied the armies of the living God. A good memory
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  Speaker 1: makes heroes. A bad memory makes wimps. Several years ago,
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  Speaker 1: my Goliath woke me at 4 a.m. with a list
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  Speaker 1: of worries. Our church was raising money for a youth building,
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  Speaker 1: more money than we had ever raised in one effort.
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  Speaker 1: The giant ridiculed me. You guys are crazy. You'll never
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  Speaker 1: collect that much money. I couldn't argue. The economy was down.
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  Speaker 1: People were stressed. Goliath had me running for the trees.
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  Speaker 1: But then I remembered David, the story of the lion
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  Speaker 1: and the bear, So I decided to do what David did,
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  Speaker 1: gaze at God's victories. I pulled out my journal and
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  Speaker 1: I began making a list of lion and bear size conquests.
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  Speaker 1: In the five previous years, God had prompted a businessman
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  Speaker 1: to donate several acres of land to the church. He
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  Speaker 1: prompted another church to buy our old building and members
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  Speaker 1: gave above our needs, enabling the church to be 80%
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  Speaker 1: debt-free and God has done this before, I told myself,
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  Speaker 1: and my giant fell to the ground. 1 Chronicles 16
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  Speaker 1: and verse 12 says, Remember his marvelous works which he
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  Speaker 1: has done. Write today's worries in sand. Chisel yesterday's victories
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  Speaker 1: in stone. Pick up the stone of the past. And
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  Speaker 1: then the second stone, the stone of prayer. Note the
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  Speaker 1: valley between your thumb and the finger. To pass from
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  Speaker 1: one to the next, you must go through it. Let
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  Speaker 1: it remind you of David's descent. Before going high, he
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  Speaker 1: went low. Don't face your giant without first doing the
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  Speaker 1: same by dedicating time to prayer. As Paul wrote in
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  Speaker 1: Ephesians 6.18, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray
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  Speaker 1: hard and long. Prayer spawned David's successes. David spent the
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  Speaker 1: beginning of his reign running from Saul, who spared no
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  Speaker 1: expense trying to kill his young replacement. When Saul's soldiers
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  Speaker 1: tried to capture David, David turned toward God in prayer.
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  Speaker 1: In Psalm 59, 16, we see these words, You have
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  Speaker 1: been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.
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  Speaker 1: David dodged every bullet of Saul's, but spent a lot
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  Speaker 1: of time hiding out in caves to do so. How
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  Speaker 1: do you survive a fugitive life like that? Well, prayers
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  Speaker 1: like this one help. In Psalm 57, be good to me, God.
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  Speaker 1: And now I've run to you for dear life. I'm
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  Speaker 1: hiding out under your wings until the hurricane blows over.
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  Speaker 1: I call out to high God, the God who holds
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  Speaker 1: me together. When David soaked his mind in God, he stood.
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  Speaker 1: When he didn't, he flopped. You think he spent much
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  Speaker 1: time in prayer the evening he seduced Bathsheba? Did he
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  Speaker 1: write a psalm the day he murdered Uriah?
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  Speaker 2: Doubtful.
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  Speaker 1: Mark well this promise from the book of Isaiah. He,
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  Speaker 1: meaning God, will keep in perfect peace all who trust
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  Speaker 1: in him, whose thoughts are fixed on him. Isaiah 26, 3.
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  Speaker 1: God promises peace to whom? To those whose minds are
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  Speaker 1: fixed on God. Invite God's help. Pick up the stone
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  Speaker 1: of prayer and don't neglect the middle finger, and that's
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  Speaker 1: the stone of priority. Let your tallest finger remind you
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  Speaker 1: of your highest priority, God's reputation. David jealously guarded it
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  Speaker 1: as 1 Samuel 17 says. 46 through 47 says, David
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  Speaker 1: fought so that all the earth may know that there
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  Speaker 1: is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall
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  Speaker 1: know the Lord does not save with sword and spear,
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  Speaker 1: for the battle is the Lord's. David saw Goliath as
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  Speaker 1: a chance for God to show off. Did David know
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  Speaker 1: he would exit the battle alive? No, but he was
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  Speaker 1: willing to give his life for the reputation of God.
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  Speaker 1: What if you saw your giant in the same way?
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  Speaker 1: Rather than hate him, welcome him. Your sin is God's
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to showcase grace. Your struggling marriage can display God's power.
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  Speaker 1: See your struggle as God's canvas, and on it he
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  Speaker 1: will paint his multicolored supremacy. Announce God's name and then
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  Speaker 1: reach for our fourth stone, the stone of passion, 1
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  Speaker 1: Samuel chapter 17 and verse 48 says, As Goliath moved
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  Speaker 1: closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.
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  Speaker 1: David ran not away from, but toward his giant. On
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  Speaker 1: one side of the battlefield, Saul and his army gulped.
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  Speaker 1: On the other, Goliath and his army scoffed. In the middle,
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  Speaker 1: the shepherd boy ran on his skinny legs. Who bet
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  Speaker 1: on the kid from Bethlehem? Not the Philistines, not the Hebrews,
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  Speaker 1: not David's siblings, but God did. And since God did,
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  Speaker 1: and since David knew God did, he ran toward his giant.
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  Speaker 2: Do the same.
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  Speaker 1: What good has overthinking your problems gotten you? Has it helped?
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  Speaker 3: No.
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  Speaker 1: Listening hurts won't heal them. Itemizing problems won't solve them.
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  Speaker 1: David killed the giant because he emphasized the Lord. Let
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  Speaker 1: your ring finger remind you to take up the stone
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  Speaker 1: of passion. One more stone and finger remains. That's your pinky.
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  Speaker 1: This is the stone of persistence. David didn't think one
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  Speaker 1: rock would do. He knew Goliath had four behemoth relatives.
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  Speaker 1: 2 Samuel chapter 21 lists them. Ishbi Benob said, was
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  Speaker 1: a descendant of the giants. His bronze spearhead weighed more
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  Speaker 1: than seven pounds. Verse 16. Soph made the list, described
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  Speaker 1: as another descendant of the giants. Verse 18. Then there
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  Speaker 1: was the brother of Goliath of Gath. The handle of
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  Speaker 1: his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam. Verse 19.
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  Speaker 1: And the biggest of all? Verse 20 describes him. There
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  Speaker 1: was a giant there with six fingers on his hands
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  Speaker 1: and six toes on his feet, 24 fingers and toes.
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  Speaker 1: He was another of those descended from Rafa. Why did
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  Speaker 1: David carry five stones? Could it be because Goliath had
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  Speaker 1: four relatives the size of Tyrannosaurus Rex? For all David knew,
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  Speaker 1: they'd come running over the hill to defend their kin,
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  Speaker 1: and David was ready to empty the chamber of if
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  Speaker 1: that's what it took. Imitate him. Never give up. You know,
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  Speaker 1: one prayer might not be enough. One day or month
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  Speaker 1: of resolve might not suffice. You may get knocked down
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  Speaker 1: a time or two, but don't quit. Keep loading the rocks.
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  Speaker 1: Keep swinging the sling. Don't make the mistake of Florence Chadwick.
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  Speaker 1: In 1952, she attempted to swim the chilly ocean waters
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  Speaker 1: between Catalina Island and the California shore. She swam through
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  Speaker 1: foggy weather and choppy seas for 15 hours. Her muscles
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  Speaker 1: began to cramp and her resolve weakened. She begged to
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  Speaker 1: be taken out of the water, but her mother, riding
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  Speaker 1: in a boat alongside, urged her not to give up.
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  Speaker 1: She kept trying, but grew exhausted and stopped swimming. AIDS
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  Speaker 1: lifted her out of the water and into the boat,
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  Speaker 1: They paddled a few more minutes, the mist broke, and
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  Speaker 1: she discovered that the shore was less than half a
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  Speaker 1: mile away. All I could see was the fog, she
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  Speaker 1: explained at a news conference. I think if I could
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  Speaker 1: have seen the shore, I would have made it. Friend,
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  Speaker 1: take a long look at the shore that awaits you.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be fooled by the fog of the slump. The
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  Speaker 1: finish may be only strokes away. God may be at
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  Speaker 1: this moment lifting his hand to signal Gabriel to grab
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  Speaker 1: the trumpet. Angels may be assembling. Saints may be gathering.
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  Speaker 1: Demons may be trembling.
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  Speaker 2: Stay at it.
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  Speaker 1: Stay in the water. Stay in the race. Stay in
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  Speaker 1: the fight. Give grace one more time. Be generous one
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  Speaker 1: more time. Teach one more class. Encourage one more soul.
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  Speaker 1: Swim one more stroke. David took five stones. He made
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  Speaker 1: five decisions.
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  Speaker 2: Do the same.
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  Speaker 1: Imitate David. The past, the prayer, the priority, the passion,
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  Speaker 1: and the persistence, they're all necessary to bring down your giant.
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  Speaker 1: And the next time Goliath wakes you up, just reach
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  Speaker 1: for a stone. Odds are he'll be out of the
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  Speaker 1: room before you can load your sling. Face your giants
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  Speaker 1: by facing God first. And the same God who helped
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  Speaker 1: David achieve the impossible will help you do the same.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
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  Speaker 2: somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
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  Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me.
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  Speaker 2: Don't need promises to keep.
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  Speaker 4: Just the thought that you are breathing somewhere in this
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  Speaker 4: world I see. Even if I'm not beside you Even
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  Speaker 4: if you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort
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  Speaker 4: Just in knowing you still glow I don't need.
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  Speaker 2: Forever I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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  Speaker 4: to feel the same.
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  Speaker 3: Just as long as.
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  Speaker 4: You're still out there Calling softly through my days You
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  Speaker 4: don't have.
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  Speaker 3: To look my way.
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
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  Speaker 4: know you're living In a world I'm not alone.
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  Speaker 2: I won't chase you through the distance Won't.
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  Speaker 4: Disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my
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  Speaker 4: silence like a star that shines at night.
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  Speaker 2: Through the dark and through the blue.
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  Speaker 4: I still think of you. You don't have to be
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  Speaker 4: my home. It's enough to know you're living in a world.
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  Speaker 4: I'm not alone.
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  Speaker 2: I don't need to be your light.
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  Speaker 4: I don't need to cross your mind All I need
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  Speaker 4: is just the truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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  Speaker 3: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to look my way.
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home It's enough to
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  Speaker 4: know you're living In a world I'm not alone