Episode #23: Facing Life's Giants with Unshakeable Faith and Courage

What happens when our greatest fears stand before us? In this episode of the All Is Well podcast, we promise you'll unlock the secrets of facing life's giants with unshakeable faith and courage, just like David did against Goliath. Join us as we dissect the powerful narrative from 1 Samuel 17, where fear grips the Israelites, including their king, Saul, rendering them immobile. It's only through David's remarkable faith in God that the tides turn. We'll explore the paralyzing effect of fear and how relying on divine strength can empower us to confront and conquer our own daunting challenges. 

But that's not all—discover how David's story is a testament to the life-changing power of unwavering trust in God. By meditating on scripture and walking by faith, learn how you too can find the courage and confidence to overcome any obstacle. This episode is a rallying cry for believers to step forward with boldness, reminding us that our battles are already won through God's promises. Let David's victory inspire you to ignite your own faith and inspire those around you. Tune in and find out how one person's faith can create a ripple effect that encourages others to stand firm in their belief.

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:02

Hello, my name is Stephanie. Welcome to the All Is Well podcast. My mission is to teach people the Word of God and emphasize its importance in their daily lives. I'm glad you decided to join me today. Let's get started. Welcome to episode 23. When you are faced with a battle, how do you respond? Are you worried, are you fearful, or do you lean to the Lord? Well, in today's episode, we're going to take a look at David's life and how he handled the battle that was right in front of him, and then we'll also take a look at our own lives and see how we need to approach things that we face. So let's get started. So we're going to begin reading in 1 Samuel, chapter 17. So in this part, before we begin, this is the war between Israel and the Philistines, and so these two groups are fighting, and so I'm going to start in 1 Samuel, chapter 17, verse 4.

Speaker 1 1:02

And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and he was armed with the coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze, and he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels and a shield-bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and you, the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said I defy the armies of Israel. This day, give me a man that we may fight together.

Speaker 1 2:06

When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. So this is why they were not going out there to battle this giant that stood before him, before all of them. They were scared of what they saw, of what they heard, because he sounded confident. They didn't feel like they could fight him. And so maybe you're facing a battle and it doesn't feel like you can fight it. It looks scary, it looks strong, it's speaking things to you. And then the words that you're hearing. It's fearful, it's bringing fear into your lives. And so it says here when Saul and all of Israel heard these words, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. And so when you're afraid, you don't move, you stop, you don't know what to do. And so that's what happened here with Saul and all of Israel they couldn't move, they were afraid because of what they saw that was right in front of them. Okay, now how does David fit into this? So Jesse had three sons, and the three oldest sons were fighting. And then another son, david. He was tending the sheep, so he wasn't out there with them. So the father, he sent them to go and check on the sons and give them some food.

Speaker 1 3:28

And so let's jump down, let's go on over to verse 23. Actually, let's go up to verse 26. And the Philistine drew near and presented himself 40 days, morning and evening. So look what fear does. It makes you stay in that same position. You don't move. If you don't move, nothing happens. You stay still. 40 days. They were fearful. Are you facing something in your life where it's still going on? You don't know what to do, you're afraid and you're still living in it. You don't know what to do. That's the fear. That's what fear will bring.

Speaker 1 4:04

And then let's jump down to 23. Then, as he talked with them this is David as he's talking with them there was the champion, the Philistine, of Gath, goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines, and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard them and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. So they're still afraid. They're not just a little bit, they're dreadfully afraid because they don't think that they can do it, because they're only looking with their own strength. When you and I only look with our own strength, no, we cannot do it. That is when we need to get our strength from the Lord, and then we're able to fight every battle and any battle quickly and easily. Because it says in his word my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And so it goes on to verse 26.

Speaker 1 5:00

Then David spoke to the man who stood by him, saying what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine? That he should defy the armies of the living God? It's like who is he that he could even do this? And the people answered him in this manner, saying so, shall it be done for the man who kills him? Let's go down to the next verse, to verse 32.

Speaker 1 5:26

Then David said to Saul Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with his Philistine. So while everyone is being afraid and they're losing their confidence, here is David saying you know what? I hear everything that's going on. I see Goliath, but I will go and fight him. So the brothers are trying to convince him not to do it, or they think he doesn't have any business there. Saul's trying to do the same thing, but then he tells him let me go and fight.

Gaining Confidence Through Faith

Speaker 1 5:56

Verse 33 it says and Saul said to David you are not able to go against this Philistine, to fight with him, for you are a youth and he a man of war from his youth. So when you have people just looking at fleshy things, they're going to say you can't do this because of that, you can't do this because of that, and that's probably true. But when you get the strength of the Lord and you have his guidance and he's leading you, those things don't matter at all, because with his strength and with his guidance, he can take you anywhere and you're able to fight any battle and anything that comes your way. So then, in verse 34,. But David said to Saul your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after it and struck it and delivered the lamb from its mouth. And when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard and struck and killed it. Your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God. Moreover, David said 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 the Philistine. So you can hear and you notice the difference between the way that David is speaking and the way that everyone else is speaking. Everyone else is afraid, everyone else is saying David, you don't need to be doing this. But when David he is speaking, he said it was the Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. The Lord did that for me before and he says so I know that God will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine. So when you're going through something, don't just say well, this is my life, this is how it's going to be. No, you take authority over it and you say God will deliver me from the hand of this situation or whatever it is. Be specific, god will deliver me from this situation. And Saul said to David go and the Lord be with you. And so they're putting on the armor on him, but it doesn't fit him. He's like you know what? This doesn't work for me. I haven't practiced with it. I'm going to use what I know. And so let's go to verse 45.

Speaker 1 8:07

Then David said to the Philistine you come to me with a sword, with a spear and with 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 defied. When you are in prayer, when you have the enemy at your door, you need to come with this confidence, not saying Lord, help me, what do I do? That's not having confidence in the Lord. That is saying that you doubt God and you don't know what you're doing. You need to come with this way. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies, whom you have defied. This day, you need to be with confidence and say I am a child of God, you are under my feet. This situation will work out in my favor. Speak to the enemy because, remember, the enemy is under your feet. He's not at the same level as you, he's not higher than you. He is under our feet. So we need to take authority over that and put him under our feet.

Speaker 1 9:09

And so when David went to battle, he knew it wasn't just in his strength. He knew that he also needed the Lord's strength. And he was able to do it because he had a confidence of the Lord in him. And in verse 36, it reads this day, the Lord will deliver you into my hand. He said God is going to deliver you into my hand because he knew that God would do it for him, because he did it for him before. That was his testimony. And so you speak to those things that are coming against you. God will deliver you into my hand, everything's going to work out for my favor, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give you the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beast of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. So you see here that David was walking by faith and not by sight. He wasn't looking to see how big he was. He didn't look to see that everyone was so fearful. He knew the God that lived in him and that he was going to be able to fight him because God was going to deliver him. Actually, we're not fighting because he's already under our feet. You need to tell him where he belongs and take authority over that situation. Then all the assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands. So pray this over your situation, for the battle is the Lord. Say thank you, god, that you're taking care of this situation. You're working everything out in my favor, and thank you, god, that you will give this into my hands in the name of Jesus.

Speaker 1 10:45

In verse 48,. So it was when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. He ran, he didn't walk verse 49, slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead so that the stone sank into his forehead and he fell on his face to the earth Verse 50,. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone and struck the Philistine and killed him. Did David have what he said? Yes, did the Israelites, when they were afraid. Did they have what they said, what they felt? Yes, they were afraid, and it locked them. So David had what he said. But there was no sword in the hand of David. But therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Speaker 1 11:55

When the enemy sees that you have taken authority over your situation, it knows that it cannot mess with you because it knows that you know who Christ is and Christ is living on the inside of you. Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley. So what David also did he gave Israel and Judah confidence to fight the Philistines. He's the one that started it. There had to be someone to start it. Are you the one that's going to start it in your family? To pray, to defy, to beat the enemy, to show him who's boss, to have authority, and then give your family the confidence when they see that testimony in your life? And then to give that, and whenever your family sees the testimony in your life, you're giving them the confidence. You know what. I can do, this too in my life. And then how it says here and they pursue the philistines as far the entrance of the valley.

Speaker 1 12:55

And so, as we see here from David's life, is that he spent time with God. He spent time with him in his presence, so he was strengthened by him. So whenever he saw something, he walked by faith, and so he knew exactly what to do, because Christ was living inside of him. God was leading him on where to go and what to do. So when we meditate on the word day and night, we'll be able to fight battles like that, and they will be easy for us to fight, just like with David. Or you can be in that same place as the Israelites, and they were in their fear for 40 days. You can either be in that situation. Stay in your fear, because fear locks you, you can't move, it's hard. Or you can have the confidence that David did because Christ was with him, because God was with him, and then the Philistine was delivered into his hand. So what I would recommend for you to do is to meditate on these scriptures in 1 Samuel, chapter 17, and learn to take authority over those situations in your life Because, remember, the devil is under our feet and we have authority. Study how David was confident in the Lord and study the life of David.

Speaker 1 14:13

And thank you for tuning in. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, say this salvation prayer with me. Heavenly Father, I admit that I have sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart. You raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is Lord and my Savior. Right now I receive forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. Come into my life. I am saved In Jesus' name, amen. I'm glad you prayed that salvation prayer. Make sure that you plug yourself into a spirit-filled church and read the word of God. Well, I hope you enjoy the message and thank you for tuning in.