Giants: Our immense opposition

Ah the beautiful bountiful grapes await us.  As the spies scouted their land, they saw something else which brought a grave concern to 10 of the 12.  There were giants in the land.  There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:33)  Oh how we are faced with those same giants along our journey to the promises and to the plan in which God has for us.  Sometimes we are faced with the giants of discouragement.  We were never promised in the Scriptures that the Christian life would be easy.  One of the most dangerous and distorted teachings about faith that exists in Christian circles today is that the reason we are faced with such tremendous difficulties and oppositions today is because we lack faith.  On the contrary, it is faith that sees us through those difficult circumstances and opposition.  God has a greater plan and task for you.  There are times we may struggle, but there is no need to quit.  There is a Nike commercial that I remember from some years back in which a voiceover says: "I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."  The voiceover was Michael Jordan, considered by many to be the greatest player of his era.  Even at the times when he did not succeed, he refused to give up.  Don’t get discouraged.  God did not give you the giants so you can fail, He gave you the giants so you can trust Him to win.  There is also the giant of doubt.  God has not forsaken you.  He does have a greater hope for you.  For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  (Jeremiah 29:11)  Doubt is a veil that shields us from seeing our promise. Doubt shields us from seeing God’s power.  Doubt shields us from seeing what God has done for us so that we can readily look ahead and know that He will do it again.  God’s plan is ours for the taking.  His promises are ours for the claiming.  Florence Chadwich, at the age of 34, on July 4, 1952 waded into the water off Catalina Island and began her 21 mile swim toward California. If she completed her journey, she would be the first woman ever to accomplish this feat. The water was ice cold, and the fog was so heavy, that Florence could hardly see the boats in her own party. Sharks often began to attack Florence as she swam and men armed with rifles in the boats surrounding her had to drive them off with carefully aimed shots. But the constant numbing cold of the water was her toughest problem. Fifteen hours after she began, she asked to be taken out, her muscles sluggish and unresponsive due to the frigid water.  Her mother and trainer, alongside in the boat, told her they were near land. They encouraged her not to quit. But as she looked ahead, all she could see was the dense fog.....so she gave up and asked to be taken out of the water. When they pulled her out, she was only a half mile from the California cost! Only a small fraction of her journey was incomplete....she almost did it. Later, when Florence’s body began to thaw, the shock of failure finally hit her.  To a reporter she blurted out, "Look, I’m not excusing myself. But if I could have SEEN the land, I might have made it."  Doubt will cause us to give up before we even reach our goal.  Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record.  Hold onto the promises in which God has clearly given to you from His Word.  Don’t be swayed or dismayed in your service for the King for to do so will inhibit you from the bountiful blessings of grapes.  We can expect oppositions in life, but we can also trust God to be there for us and with us.  God allows oppositions so that we can give those oppositions to Him.  The only reason we struggle against oppositions is because we chose to struggle with them.  That is not what God intended.  Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (I Peter 5:7)  The reason your burdens are more than you can bear is because you are carrying something God did not ask you to carry.  David picked up 5 smooth stones but only needed one to defeat the giant.  His secret weapon was neither a stone nor a sling, it was God.  It is that same God that will enable us to defeat the giants in life.