FREEDOM

God Gold of the Day

“Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭17:41-47‬ ‭

Had the awesome opportunity this morning to speak at an FCA and as much as I hope the kids got some encouragement from it, I know I did! First off, I’ve never been to an FCA that did worship music beforehand but shout out to West Oak Middle because they are doing it right over there!! Seeing kids worshiping and the fact that there was so many there, it was just awesome to be apart of that culture they’ve built of embracing Christ in one of the main places where it’s hard to even hear His name anymore. On top of that, it hit me at a bigger level because at that age, I could care less about Jesus or attending FCA events unless there was breakfast of course! Unreal experience seeing Christ and worshiping Him with a bunch of youngins this morning!

I had planned to speak about the God Gold from yesterday, “Expectations” and use the verses from Philippians but at the last second the Lord had other plans so I changed over to my all time favorite story, David vs Goliath but keeping that same message. I’ve never been a huge fan of public speaking like that and it’s gotten easier through time and doing it but I’m still a sweaty, nervous mess before I get up there. I guess you could say it’s one of my giants. We’ve all got our different giants whether we want to admit or not. Anything that scares you to death, something you can’t ever seem to get past because it’s just too big, too scary, or too overwhelming to face.

I’ve spoken a few times before but I’ve never had to practice what I preach to this extent. I may have looked cool as a cucumber on the outside but on the inside I was freaking out! Staring face to face with my giant, I had no choice but to think about the expectations just like David had. No matter how big that giant is, how tough he may seem or all the times you go to face it and seem to fall short or just run away in fear, I got some good news! David went to face Goliath, the huge, battle veteran, stronger, bigger, warrior and after constantly being doubted. After discussing his want to face this giant with his brothers, other soldiers, and even King Saul, he was told “you’re too small, you’re crazy.” He didn’t let that stop him because David had his expectations in a different place, his expectations were in the Lord so when he looked across the field at his giant and heard all this advice that could’ve gave him every reason to walk away, His trust and faith was in the Lord so he stayed to fight.

I’m realizing this before I get up to speak, David is one crazy dude. David had his expectations in God, His relationship with the Lord, the love and faithfulness of One who had carried and delivered his people time and time again. So when David walks onto the battlefield looking across at this ridiculously sized warrior, he’s probably terrified just like we are when we face our giants but it doesn’t matter how we feel in those moments of fear and doubt. It only matters how we raise our hearts and eyes, leaning on the Savior, Who raises our confidence and raises our expectations. David’s identity was in the Savior, how could he lose? It’s crazy when you realize how much bigger and stronger Jesus is than the giants we make feel so big while we’re playing our expectations out in our heads. You know what I’m talking about, the thoughts of worry, doubt, fear and insecurity that overwhelm you to the point where you feel incapable of not just beating your giant but even showing up.

It was so freeing to trust in that example from David and to trust in the expectations of victory and deliverance that Christ has already given me. It blows my mind to think of living and operating everyday and against giants with that freedom! Imagine what a whole bunch of Jesus followers, freedom fighters could do living under these big, almighty and unlimited expectations not having a care in the world what the world throws at them because at the end of the day, at the end of this life, they’ll have Jesus and they’ll have freedom! Today was a huge wake up call for me after seeing and feeling what freedom is like, why look back? Today is another day to wake up and live in Freedom! Don’t wait til you feel like it, til your giants get a little smaller, they’re not going anywhere but neither is Christ. Go to battle, let them know that you’re a child of God, that they can hurt you and knock you down but they’ll never take your FREEDOM!!!! When the storms and giants come, celebrate your freedom today like this dude up above!!!