Facing the Giants in Your Life
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes we think how grateful we are not to live in the days of the Old Testament. Think about it—no airline travel, no computers, no television, no thirty-one flavors of ice cream. If we wanted to, we could make a list longer than an eight-year-old’s Christmas list of all the reasons we’re glad we weren’t born in the days of the “-ites” (the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Amalekites, and all the rest).
We’re not to be faulted for our preference for modern times; things are better and easier in many ways than they were then. But for all our wisdom in preferring now to then, there is one big reason that most people fail to include on their list: There were giants in the land. That’s right—real, live giants. Huge humans. Moving mountains. Shade-makers on legs. Given that we live in the age of Hollywood when it’s getting hard to separate fact from fancy, we sometimes can be cynical about the record of that which was common thousands of years ago. But the Bible literally says there were giants that made life rough for God’s people.
The Old Testament giants are first mentioned in Genesis 6:2. Some modern translations of the Bible refer to them by their Hebrew name, the Nephilim. Their descendants were still roaming around Canaan when Israel peeked over the border to inspect their promised land. With knees knocking, the spies Moses sent into the land returned to report that the descendants of Anak (sounds like a giant, doesn’t it? Anak means “long-necked” in Hebrew) were in the land. The spies said they were like grasshoppers compared to the giants (Numbers 13:33). The last of a race of giants called the Rephaim was Og, the king of Bashan. His bed was—are you ready for this?—thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide! (Deuteronomy 3:11). And who can forget old Goliath whose nine-foot frame struck fear into the entire army of Saul?
To put it bluntly, the Israelites were terrorized by the giants in the land. We probably would have been as well. But ask yourself this: How many of the Nephilim and Rephaim have you seen walking around lately? That’s right—those giants are all dead and gone. But before you put your slingshot and stones away, I have something else to tell you. There’s a whole new breed of giants alive and well in our day.
Unfortunately, you can’t see these giants. In fact, they’re sort of like the wind: You only know they’re around when things start to shake. Because they sneak in on cat’s paws, these giants can be walking right beside you before you even know it. What kind of giants am I talking about? They’re the kind that can convince you you’re a trespasser in the spiritual land God has promised you. They’re the kind that can make you feel like God isn’t going to keep His promises to you. And they’re the kind that can make you wish you’d stayed in Egypt and never accepted God’s offer of deliverance and salvation.
In this series of studies you’ll come face to face with the spiritual giants that try to terrorize Christians all over the world—giants like fear, discouragement, loneliness, worry, guilt, temptation, anger, resentment, doubt, procrastination, failure, and jealousy. Have you met any of these giants? Do one or more of them have you in a spiritual headlock right now?
In these lessons you’ll identify these invisible stranglers and learn how to break their hold on you. The only true spiritual giant, Jesus Christ, has gone ahead of us and defeated them all which is the real reason this is the best time to be alive!
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