At Least Ten Feet Tall

​Years ago I taught a married couple’s Sunday School class. With warm fondness, I remember how much fun we had together building our marriages and families studying God’s Word together.
 
A couple of the guys who were my best friends in the class liked to rag on the fact that I am short in physical stature (5’ 5 ½” inches to be exact!).  When I left to take my first church as pastor, the class threw a great going away party for me and Jo Ann.
 
Ø  My buddies wrote and then sang a little jingle that went something like this: “Steve Roll will be ten feet tall when he gets to heaven, but everyone else will be eleven!” Ragged me to the bitter end! Their tribute was awesome and made me try to walk a little taller!
 
Our scripture for the week showcases a momentous battle between a giant named Goliath and a shepherd boy named David. Read I Samuel 17.
 
Goliath was an uncircumcised Philistine phenom A mammoth, mountain-sized, menacing, muscle bound, meanness machine who openly taunted God and caused the Israeli army to tremble in their combat sandals. Goliath was nine feet tall and weighed 700 lbs!
           
Ø  Goliath was a real problem. A big problem.  HE SEEMED TOO BIG TO HIT.
 
I once heard John Maxwell say “Your problem is not your problem.” John shared how we can turn our problems over to God, and when our problems become His problems, He solves them for us.
 
Goliath was not Israel’s problem. Goliath was God’s problem. But Saul and Goliath made God’s problem their problem. In doing so, God’s warriors were stopped dead in their tracks by Goliath’s trash-talking taunts for forty days and nights.  
           
Ø  Goliath was big but not too big for God.
 
Saul and the Israeli army forgot who their God was and how big and bad (good bad!) He was.
 
Enter shepherd boy David. You will discover that David had a different perspective than Saul and the Israeli soldiers. He walked in faith, not fear.
 
“Then David said to the Philistine (Goliath), “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and 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 taunted.”
 I Samuel 17:45
 
Ø  David looked up at the colossal champion of Israel’s enemy and decided THIS GUY IS TOO BIG TO MISS! David could see that Goliath was nine feet tall.  But that did not bother David, for David knew that His God was at least ten feet tall!
 
Without hesitation, with a fire burning in his heart, and the Israeli and Philistine armies looking on, David publicly, boldly confessed his faith (verses 31-37), courageously confronted Goliath with confidence and certainty (verses 45-47), and conquered convincingly the giant in the name of the Lord (verses 48-53). 
 
Ø  Let me ask you: How big is your God? I mean how big is your God? Is He big enough to handle any problem you have?
 
Problems seem so big because, like Goliath, they stand tall, scream loudly, cast a scary shadow, instill fear and worry,  laugh and mock at our seeming insignificance.
           
Ø  Problems can become gigantic when we focus on them instead of God and our faith in Him. The more Goliath taunts us, our faith in our God either gets smaller or bigger!
 
Goliath looked big in front of a cowering army and a little, shepherd boy with a slingshot. But Goliath was cut down to size in a hurry through the faith of a courageous servant who attacked his enemy in the name of the Living God!  
 
Ø  It is a fact that you and I find out how big our God is and how much faith we have in Him when Goliath shows up. Goliaths test our trust in God.
 
Try this simple exercise the next time you have a Goliath problem. Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. Put Goliath (your problem) on one side and God (your solution) on the other. Write out everything you know about Goliath and God, then decide who is bigger, God or Goliath. Who you decide is bigger determines the outcome of your situation.
 
Ø  The God of the Bible is bigger than any and every Goliath we may ever encounter in life.
 
My friend, Goliath better think twice when God’s kids are in town! Christians do not defeat problems in their name. We gain victory over the enemy because the battle is the Lord’s (verse 47), we fight by faith in the name of the Lord (verses 37, 45-46) and victory belongs to the Lord! (See Proverbs 21:31).
 
Ø  Got a problem? A giant problem! A Goliath taunting you and mocking your faith? Take your problem and put it in God’s hands. Remember that God is at least ten feet tall and He still slays nine foot Goliaths.  
 
“There is none like Thee, O Lord; Thou art great, and great is Thy name in might. Who would not fear Thee, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Thy due…...”  Jeremiah 10:7a
 
“Ah, Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! NOTHING IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR THEE!”
                                                                                                                  Jeremiah 32:17
A Word For Your Week: God is always bigger than your biggest problem.