Rocking Your Giant - Journey to the Heart of God

I pulled into a restaurant in our town and I saw you know license plates don't usually freak me out, but I did see one that did. Because they had one word on the license plate. Boomer. Now for those of you who've been with me very much, you know why that would terrify me. Because in Chicago on the south side of Chicago, our neighborhood bully was named Boomer I don't know if his mother named him that. I don't know. Um and he would come along and we were White Sox fans on the South Side, so he would Feel free to just intimidate us and take our stuff, take my White Sox stuff. And many of you know I've told the story before that how I bravely went down to his house one time. I was sick of it And I was going to confront Boomer and get it back. And I did, being braver than you thought I was. I probably should tell you my father went with me and that that was a uh somewhat of a deciding factor because Boomer was bigger than I was, but my father was bigger than Boomer. So that worked out. David had a a boon named Goliath. And Though his boomer was bigger than he was, his father was bigger than his boomer was Same with you. We're going to look at a story that is one of the most familiar in the Bible, people who don't know much about the Bible. There is a story. Behind the familiar David and Goliath story, if you look at it through the lens of a young man who is after God's heart, And who asks the question, what does God see here? Because what an entire army and the king saw was very different from what David saw. And I would suggest to you, I've never heard anybody quite talk about the story in this regard, but I would suggest to you that the reason David went to fight Goliath and the reason he prevailed over Goliath is because He was a man after God's heart and saw what God saw that day and acted on that. makes the story particularly interesting. Let me just say that this business of asking God, what do you see here? It reminded me this morning, and I hadn't didn't tell you about this last night, uh, Kofi Annan was an African diplomat who was elected Secretary General of the UN some years ago. And he had been renowned for his ability to negotiate hotspot situations. And in an interview with him that I happened to read, they asked him, why were you so good at it? And he said, well, I think it goes back to the British boys' school that I was in as a kid. And he said, I walked in one day. And the teacher came in and up on a big whiteboard he he put a big uh a black dot. And he said, boys, what do you see up here? Ah, a black dot, a black dot! He said, that's funny. He said, I see a big white canvas with a little black dot He said in negotiating with people, they were so fixated on the dot, that's why we couldn't get them together. If I could just get them to stand back and look at the big canvas, we could settle things. Asking God what he sees in your situation or that person or that problem or that choice. You will be able to move back because you'll be looking at the dot, but you will be able to stand back and look at the big canvas. Because when you say, God, would you help me see what you see here and feel what you feel here, you'll be able to make a big picture choice. That's what David did the day he fought Goliath He saw things nobody else saw that day, and so he did things nobody else would do. So I'm going to read to you this won't be on the screen because something else is about to be But I'm going to read to you from 1 Samuel 17. It's a familiar passage, but let's get the background here, and I'm going to give you a little geography lesson This is the Valley Ebelah in Israel. And if you will picture on the left side, the Israeli army up there, back by that part of it, and then on the other side. is the Philistine army. And this is where all that happened. A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, Came out of the Philistine camp, his height was six cubits and a span. Go nine and a half feet. Yeah That's even taller than I am. He had a bronze helmet on his head, wore a coat of scale armor of bronze, weighing 5,000 shekels. His armor weighed more than maybe some people in this room. His armor weighed 125 pounds. You said, oh, well, that would not be me. But His armor, I said, was the weight of a person. His armor weighed 125 pounds. He looms nine foot, nine in nine, basically nine and a half feet. His legs he wore bronze, he's covered with bronze, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed 600 shekels. The point of the spear was 15 pounds. His shield bearer went ahead of him. Goliath stood. and shouted to the ranks of Israel, why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine? Are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man, have him come down to me. If he's able to fight and kill me, we'll become your subjects But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us. Then the Philistines said, This day I defy the armies of Israel. And these words will come up in another message this weekend, but we'll get to that later. Give me a man! Give me a man! You got any men there? And let us fight each other. On hearing the Philistines' words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. And then I'll read just one more verse a little later. For 40 days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. That in mind, I want you to write these in your notes. Would you write these two words? My Goliath. Let me define a Goliath. It's your intimidating challenge. You know, it's interesting how much detail God went into to describe Goliath, isn't it? He could have just said there was a big guy with a lot of armor, but I mean he lets you know how intimidating this was. Intimidating, that which makes you timid instead of old. Now When we define a Goliath as an intimidating challenge, that could be health for you. It could be financial. It could be work issues. Could be marital. Could be a child or a grandchild. That is a challenge that really is intimidating. It might be this new season in your life. A lot of questions It could be a major loss you've had. A Goliath can be a broken relationship It can be depression. It could be failure. It could be a spiritual battle that you have lost many times and continue to lose. It's just the sin that can't seem to be beaten. Somewhere in there is your Goliath. If you know now that burden that you came here with, and it is a challenge, and it is overwhelming. And it is daunting. And it is intimidating, perhaps. Write that down because when I say Goliath, we'll be talking about that for you. I'll say Goliath. That's what you'll be thinking about. So let's look at when you see things through God's eyes, how does this whole day look different? All right, you see it in your notes. Saul and his army saw a giant. That's you're looking, that's the dot. That's a big dot. But David, look at this from 1 Samuel. David says, what have I done now? Is there not a cause? They see a giant. He sees a cause When you're looking through God's eyes. God says there's a cause here. They saw a battle between two armies. You asked them to say, well, yeah, we got the two armies here. 1 Samuel 17, 26. David asked the men standing near him, what will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? This is the this God says that's my army, but you're not showing up. David says, when God looks down there, he says, that's my armies in retreat. That's the armies of the living God. This isn't just a battle between a couple of human armies. Oh. And oh, they saw mighty weapons would win the battle. Here's how we know. Um, 1738. Saul dressed David in his own tunic, put a coat of armor on him. He said, okay, you've got to have armor to win this. Have any chance. And a bronze helmet. Well that's good. That's like Goliath. David fastened on his sword over the tunic, tried walking around because he was not used to them. I can't go in these. I'm not used to them. So he took them off. Okay, you gotta have, listen, you gotta have a sword and you gotta have armor. This is how we win battles. David says, no, David saw mighty God deciding the battle, not mighty weapons. Let's look at 1746 here. This day he says to Goliath, the Lord will deliver you, the Lord, the Lord, not the sword, the Lord will deliver you into my hands. I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I'll give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. It wasn't gonna be mighty weapons, it was gonna be mighty God who decided the battle. It's interesting, God's really into little weapons make having big victories. Moses goes to Egypt armed with a stick. His staff, it's like What in the world is this lousy stick gonna do for me? Oh, uh it's gonna be the symbol that parts, turns the Red Sea to blood, melts the heart of Pharaoh, and liberates the nation. That's all God loves to use what seem like powerless weapons to do powerful things. Hey, the walls of Jericho are coming down. How are we doing that? Trumpets? Really? Really? Trumpets? A slingshot? Against that? Monster? And they saw an unbeatable enemy. Everybody else looked and said, this is it, this guy, how do you beat this guy? There's no way to beat him. David saw a man, he said, defying the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel That's what he saw. David said to the Philistine, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin. I come with the name. I got you know what I got? I got a name. I got a name of Jehovah Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel. That's who you are up against, man. That's who you've defied. And they see, oh, you know what they all saw when they saw David One of them said, you're only a young man. Saul said, you're just a boy. And Goliath looked at him and said, he is little more than a boy. David saw a champion coming against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. See, it's totally different when you look into God's eyes You don't see the dot. You see this big canvas. He says, this is there's something much bigger going on here than the giant Um obviously the armies of the living god forgot who they were. Or they would have never been in retreat. Many times we forget who we are. And we have voices that hold us back, that lie to us, that have been planted in our mind and our heart long ago. making us feel inadequate. So look at your notes. David sees a different battle than everyone else. David sees a different enemy. He sees a different outcome. Because when you are a person after God's own heart, everything looks different. So David charges, charges the giant when everyone else is retreating. It says, David ran. Not from to the battle. And when you're looking at your giant and your when you're Goliath, if you wrote one down And your battle through God's eyes and you ask to see what he sees, it changes everything. I have never had, and probably never will. Have a larger giant to deal with than the sudden loss of the love of my life since I was 19. I was a lost little boy. I said, I know how to do life with Karen. I have no idea what life without Karen means. For those of you who knew her, you know what a force she was, what an incredibly gifted woman. Known as Mama Hutch to our native young people, they named her that. One lady wrote to me when Karen was gone and said, the day you lost your wife, hundreds of native kids lost their mother. A good friend wrote to us and said, Karen was the wind beneath Ron's wings. Nobody said it better than that. Um, God, what do you see here? A few days later I wrote this in a journal. I will not waste this grief. I have no idea where that thought came from. Well yeah I do. I know that I wasn't coherent enough to think that way And then there was a prayer. God, if it's going to hurt this bad, would you somehow use it to make me more useful to you and more helpful to other people? Without realizing it, I was moving from pain to purpose I could not have told you that at the time. But that was the first glimmer that God had purpose and things he wanted to do. And this was his way of doing it. Everything looks different when you see it through God's eyes. So with that in mind, in terms of your Goliath, let's go to the second passion. of life's greatest journey, a journey to the heart of God. Last night it was checking with God. Today it's choosing boldly Because that's what that day was about. David made a choice that an army would not make An entire army in retreat. 40 days this guy comes out and says, give me a man. Not one man comes forward, but this little shepherd boy. Choosing boldly, because I believe God wouldn't have brought you here except for the fact, or because of the fact at least. That for every one of us here, there is a bold choice you need to make about some area of your life. I have no idea what that choice is But I believe David is a model of choosing boldly. His whole listen his life was one bold choice after another. I'll give you some examples. He had a chance. Do you remember? He had a chance to kill Saul. Saul's asleep. David is standing over him with his sword. His guys are saying, get this over with. You've been out here running around for a decade because of that guy. End it. And he boldly chooses. to not exact revenge at that moment. When the Amalekites come, and we'll talk about this in a later session, when the Amalekites come and steal everybody, all the families, including his own. He boldly, after consulting God, chooses to pursue the Amalekites, holding all their loved ones. When the Philistines attack, when they hear David is made king, they immediately go to attack. And he counterattacks before they can get to him. He continues to make bold choices. When you become a king, the first thing you do is eliminate every family member of the former king and everybody loyal to him because they can become the focal point of a future rebellion. And yet the surviving son, Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, He uh he says of Saul, he said, come and be like a prince at my table. He elevates That surviving son. I'm sure everybody told him that was a dumb idea. And David dares to step up and say, we will build a temple. To the Most High God. Bold choice after bold choice. Started on the day he killed Goliath. You see here and we're gonna go fast five game-changing declarations. This is what bold choices represent. And I think they're all evident in the story. Number one, fear will not decide. I will not make my decisions based on fear We have made many of our life decisions based on fear. Fear of what people would think. Fear of failure. Fear of inadequacy I think if you look back over your life, the choices you have made because you were afraid of something or someone are the ones you regret the most. Fear has decided for too long. And a whole army let fear decide that day. But the man after God's own heart. Did not let fear decide. I'll tell you what Some of the choices that maybe you have faced or are facing that may be decided by fear. Maybe you've left some things broken that should have been addressed. Because it was too scary to try to fix them. Maybe God has been calling you and there has been something pressing on you to say yes to or no to and you've been saying no to his yes or yes to his no. And you have failed to obey God on something because of fear. Maybe um Maybe you've missed an opportunity in your life. And maybe there's one right in front of you right now, but fear has been the basis of your decision. When the stakes are high, retreat is not an option. When the stakes are high, Retreat is not an option. Ephesians 6. Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so you can take your stand Take your stand against the devil's schemes. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes and the heat is on and it and it's coming from every direction You may be able to stand your ground. When we act this out with the team, this is what we do. Stand your ground. Take your stand. And after you've done everything, to stand. 1 Samuel 17 from the story of David and Goliath. You notice this antidote to fear Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? It's time somebody defied the one defying God. So what is your giant? What is your greatest fear? 1 Samuel 17. Let's go back to the story. We won't reread this. I read it to you out loud, but let's go to verse 48. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. I love that. To say it is time that fear is dethroned. And you know what the recurring battle cry in the Bible is? You just acted it out. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. That is repeated over and over again at turning point moments in the history of the nation of Israel Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. In Hebrew, it is Hazak Hamatz! If the students were here, they'd be shouting it with me. Because we yelled it all summer. Be strong! Hazak! Be courageous. Hamatz. You ready to say it with me? It is a battle cry. Hazak! Hamatz! Once more. Hazak! Hamatz! What does it mean? Be strong. Be courageous. Fear will not decide. Second declaration My God is bigger. Whatever my Goliath is, medical, financial, parental, marital, work, whatever, my God is bigger than this. Fear comes from comparing the size of your challenge to the size of you Courage comes from comparing the size of your challenge to the size of your God. All the difference in the world. 1 Samuel 17, 45. You come against me with sword, spear, and javelin. I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. And this day the Lord will deliver you and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. That's pretty brave. He is saying, you are big. You're bigger than I am, boomer. But my father is bigger than you are. That's how you make your choice And by the way, part of believing your God is bigger is refusing to believe the lies about who you are. Do you know what people were saying about David that day? Oh, let's look. Verse 28. Eliab, David's oldest brother. Some of you may have an older brother like this Some of you may be the older brother like this. Heard him speaking with the men. He burned with anger at David and said, Why have you come down here? And now who'd you leave those few sheep in the wilderness with? Well, David had taken care of that. I know how conceited you are, little brother. And you and I know how wicked your heart is, little brother. You came down only to watch the battle. This is so funny. This guy's been running for 40 days from the battle. You just came down to watch the battle. And Saul told him, the king said, you're not able. Some of us have a voice like that inside of us that's been there for years. You are not able. You are not able to go out against the Philistine and fight him. You're only. You're just a kid. And he has been a warrior from his youth. We work a lot with our students to undo the lies that they have believed about themselves. The names have been called, the ways they've been treated. And for many of us here in the room, we still hear those voices And they have kept us from stepping up to obediences that God has called us to David refused to believe any of those lies. He said, I am a servant of the Lord Almighty. That's who I am. Only the one who made you can tell you who you are. And he says in Ephesians 2. 10, you are God's workmanship, handiwork created in Christ Jesus. To do good work which God prepared in advance for you to do. And there are other verses there. Let's just say this, whom God calls. He qualifies. By the way, if you think you're not enough, you're right. If you think you're inadequate, you got it. You are. Because God wants it to be him. We are, Paul said, we aren't competent. Paul said, we're not competent in ourselves. God makes us competent. By the way, whatever you're afraid of, Jesus is Lord of. Whatever you are afraid of, your Jesus is Lord of. So here's our bold declarations. Fear will not decide. My God is bigger, and it isn't about me. This battle is not ultimately about me. Let's go to the verses. You are not able. I'm going to go fast through these. You're only a young man. Let's keep it going. Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it. This is nothing new for me to go run into the battle. I struck it, I rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the oh was that David that no he said the Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion, the paw of the bear. He'll rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. Go, and the Lord be with you. All right, here's the bottom line. This isn't about you versus your Goliath. This is your Goliath versus your God. This isn't about you versus Goliath. It's about Goliath versus your God. That changes everything. Here's the deal. The closer you get to God's heart on this journey, the bolder the choices you will make. Because you realize he's bigger, so you're bolder. As you get closer to his heart and experience his chess and love, And his majesty and lordship, you get bolder. Now, here's the fourth one. The battle is the Lord's. 1 Samuel 17, 47. All those gathered here will know. It is not by a sword, it's not by a spear that the Lord saves. For the battle is the Lord's. And he will give all of you, the whole army of you, into our hands. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly because The battle is the Lord. This is why checking with God is so important. Make sure that this is a battle he wants you to fight. Make sure it is a Lord's battle. You may be running into a battle he doesn't even want you to fight. And it's not going to be won by the weapons we have. But by a humble weapon you have in your hand. What did David have in his hand all the time? He had a slingshot all the time. Do you know how people are going to come to Christ through you? Nothing fancy. It's something already in your hand. It's your story. Your hope story. You are living proof of a living Savior because there's no explanation for you, but Jesus. Your story, a humble weapon that can bring down a giant, better than that, save a soul. And a prayer That three-open prayer I've taught you many times. Lord, open a heart. Lord, open a door, first of all, a natural opportunity. Open a door, open their heart, open my mouth. You've got a story and a prayer. It's still humble weapons that win great victories. Somebody in this room is being asked to make a risky obedience. Did you know that's an oxymoron? There are only risky disobediences. But I've been called upon a number of times in my life to make an obedience that I had a lot of yubuts. Yab but A lot of risk. But here's the fact. Your greatest victories And God's greatest blessings are on the other side of a risky obedience. For the road to the heart of God and the will of God is paved with risky obediences. So no matter the odds and no matter the challenge and no matter the math Your giant has power, but no authority. I've told friends of mine, cancer has power. But it has no authority to decide an outcome. There are many of the giants in our life that are powerful, but they will not decide your outcome. Jesus said, all authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Your Lord will decide your outcome, not your giant. And know that while there is power there, all authority resides with your Lord. That so changes the equation. One last thing. David said, this is for your glory, God. Because you're going to win through my weakness. It's obvious I'm weak. Yes, I am small. Yes, I don't have great weapons with me. But God loves to win through our weakness so he gets all the glory. 1746. Look at this. The whole world will know there's a God in Israel. Let me tell you something about miracles. The miracle is not primarily to solve your problem. Jesus can do the miracle very easily, the healing parting the Red Sea, bringing down the walls of Jericho, raising the dead. The real issue here is that everybody will know what kind of God you have. The miracle is secondarily to solve your problem. It is primarily to show the might of your God. That was what was going on, was not the David again looking through God's eyes says, this is about a giant falling, yes. But everybody's gonna know what kind of God you are. So what's your bold choice? You should you wrote down your Goliath. And what are you gonna do with your bold choice? The battle belongs to the Lord. That's something you need to decide before you leave. Because the journey to the heart of God makes us able to see things from his perspective and why the bull choice is the best choice. Just a little PS here. Years later, as king, David was facing a massive invasion. Two armies had merged and were coming against them. But he is still living the lessons of the battle with a giant. We don't achieve our victories. We receive them. You don't win a victory He will use you, but the victory is received, not not achieved. Your victory and your miracle are for your good, but supremely for his glory. Now, Psalm 20. This I know, the Lord gives victory to his anointed. He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of his right hand. This massing army had all kinds of chariots. We find out that David's army went out and killed 700 charioteers. If you had chariots, you had the mega weapon of the day. So when he says this, the context is this looming invasion surrounded by chariots, an army of chariots. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust. How did he come to Goliath? I come to you in The name, Jehovah Elohim. That's what he says here. We trust he's back to Goliath day. But we trust in the name of Jehovah Elohim. I did it with a giant and I'll do it with an army. They are brought to their knees. And fall. Sound familiar? They are brought to their knees and fall. But we rise up. And stand firm. Lord, give victory to the king and answer us when we call. And there was, of course, a massive victory Now go to can we go to Psalm 21 verse 7 because I want to show you where his heart lands that day. For the king trusts in the Lord. Oh, do you see something coming up here? Through the through the unfailing love of the Most High This king will not be shaken. And his heart lands on that day faced with an invasion where it has always landed. Right in the middle. Of the jessed love of God. Lord, I pray as we sort through Where our fear has imprisoned us for too long hindered our obedience, robbed our courage, because we kept comparing it to what we could do instead of what you could do. May we, like David of old, live the rest of our life, choosing not timidly, but boldly. Because we go in the name of Jehovah Elohim I pray you'd lead us in our bold choices before we leave here. In the mighty name of, in the name, in the name of Jesus, King of the Christ. Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.