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Shadows and Giants
Dec 01, 2020
Have you ever noticed how sometimes a shadow can seem like a giant? Now I’ve seen plenty of shadows, but I’ve never come face to face with a giant. And yet, sometimes I look at a shadow I’ve cast and it seems like I have seen a giant.
So what does that have to do with our Christian Journey?
We are quite aware of the “giants” mentioned in the Bible, in fact God brought to my mind the two most popular stories recently. The first one was when the 12 Spies went into the Promised Land, and they encountered the Giants, but they also saw what great produce was in the land and just how beautiful it was. But only Joshua and Caleb came back with a ‘good report’ (Numbers 13-14) in that the goodness of the land was greater than the threat of the Giants. But the people listened instead to the 10, and as a result God caused the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years.
Then there was David, the young shepherd boy who took on the Giant, when the rest of the well-trained army of Israel were unable to (1 Samuel 17). He wasn’t afraid of Goliath because he had been so close to God in tending the sheep, that he had learned all the “tricks of the trade” in order to keep the sheep safe.
God also reminded me of Psalm 23:4 – where He tells us we will walk through the Valley of the SHADOW of Death. That says to me that even though our situation may seem bad, we have to keep moving through it and not be overwhelmed by it. And the promise is that God will be with us.
I believe that the ‘Giants’ and the ‘Shadows’ in our lives prevent us from seeing God at work, and prevent us from drawing nearer to Him. They become what we focus on and cause us to be distracted. Even if we know God and spend time with Him, the ‘Giants’ in our lives can sometimes become the central focus, displacing God. I’m not denying that sometimes those ‘Giants’ or ‘Shadows’ are very real issues and can cause great trauma in our lives, but depending on where our focus will determine whether we walk in victory or defeat, have a good report or a fearful report.
Just as David was sure he could defeat Goliath because he had a strategy in place, so we too can defeat our ‘giants’ when we seek God and when we know His plans for the fight. The ‘Giants’ in our lives can stop us from reaching our victory, just as Goliath stopped the Israelite army from defeating him. They were scared of him, and all they saw was the giant in front of them. They couldn’t see the victory even with all their training and preparedness. They were distracted by the sight of Goliath, whereas David concentrated solely on God and his preparations for the battle, and only focussed on Goliath when he stood up to slay him.
In the same way shadows can overwhelm us and make us think things look worse than they are. When we focus on the wrong thing, our attention is drawn away from the power and the authority of Christ in us. As the shadow at noon is the shortest of all shadows, so when we are so close to God and are walking in relationship and intimacy with Him, will the effects of the issues and problems in our lives be minimal because our focus is in the right place.
2 Corinthians 5:7 TPT “for we live by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.” What a great reminder that we need to live by faith, because what we see with our eyes, whether it is our physical eyes, our emotional eyes, our minds-eye, it will stop us from believing and trusting God for the outcome of the situation.
Giants and Shadows come into our lives in many forms, and we have to defeat those giants and ignore those shadows. We have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We have to first seek God with all of our heart. We need to praise and worship God which draws our focus to Him. We need to ramp up our ‘secret place meetings’ with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit because when the Giants come and the shadows overwhelm us, we need to be ready with a good report. Like Joshua & Caleb and David, we need to be ready to see things from God’s perspective. We need to have Heavenly Armour in place. We must trust God and believe He can deliver us.
I bless you today to seek God, to know God, to have His thoughts and know His ways. I bless you today to walk by faith, and see the victory that Jesus has won at the cross for us. I bless you today that if you are facing your own ‘Giants’ that you would gaze upon the beauty of God, that you would know the plans He has for you and that you would use every weapon He has given you to fight. I bless you today to be drawn back into the arms of the Father, and to rest in His Presence, receiving His love and His healing and His breakthrough. I bless you today to sit at the feet of Jesus and be restored and renewed by Him. I bless you today to know that Holy Spirit is your guide, counsellor and helper.
I decree and declare over you that no weapon formed against you is going to prosper because that is God’s promise to you. I declare that every tongue that rises against you in judgement or accusation will be refuted by you. I declare over your life that peace, righteousness and security in Jesus triumphs over opposition. I declare that this righteousness is imparted to you from the Lord as your justification and because this is your heritage as servants of the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)
Today be Bold, Strong and Courageous and know that the Victory is yours in Jesus Name.
Blessings
Jean
So what does that have to do with our Christian Journey?
We are quite aware of the “giants” mentioned in the Bible, in fact God brought to my mind the two most popular stories recently. The first one was when the 12 Spies went into the Promised Land, and they encountered the Giants, but they also saw what great produce was in the land and just how beautiful it was. But only Joshua and Caleb came back with a ‘good report’ (Numbers 13-14) in that the goodness of the land was greater than the threat of the Giants. But the people listened instead to the 10, and as a result God caused the Israelites to wander in the desert for 40 years.
Then there was David, the young shepherd boy who took on the Giant, when the rest of the well-trained army of Israel were unable to (1 Samuel 17). He wasn’t afraid of Goliath because he had been so close to God in tending the sheep, that he had learned all the “tricks of the trade” in order to keep the sheep safe.
God also reminded me of Psalm 23:4 – where He tells us we will walk through the Valley of the SHADOW of Death. That says to me that even though our situation may seem bad, we have to keep moving through it and not be overwhelmed by it. And the promise is that God will be with us.
I believe that the ‘Giants’ and the ‘Shadows’ in our lives prevent us from seeing God at work, and prevent us from drawing nearer to Him. They become what we focus on and cause us to be distracted. Even if we know God and spend time with Him, the ‘Giants’ in our lives can sometimes become the central focus, displacing God. I’m not denying that sometimes those ‘Giants’ or ‘Shadows’ are very real issues and can cause great trauma in our lives, but depending on where our focus will determine whether we walk in victory or defeat, have a good report or a fearful report.
Just as David was sure he could defeat Goliath because he had a strategy in place, so we too can defeat our ‘giants’ when we seek God and when we know His plans for the fight. The ‘Giants’ in our lives can stop us from reaching our victory, just as Goliath stopped the Israelite army from defeating him. They were scared of him, and all they saw was the giant in front of them. They couldn’t see the victory even with all their training and preparedness. They were distracted by the sight of Goliath, whereas David concentrated solely on God and his preparations for the battle, and only focussed on Goliath when he stood up to slay him.
In the same way shadows can overwhelm us and make us think things look worse than they are. When we focus on the wrong thing, our attention is drawn away from the power and the authority of Christ in us. As the shadow at noon is the shortest of all shadows, so when we are so close to God and are walking in relationship and intimacy with Him, will the effects of the issues and problems in our lives be minimal because our focus is in the right place.
2 Corinthians 5:7 TPT “for we live by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.” What a great reminder that we need to live by faith, because what we see with our eyes, whether it is our physical eyes, our emotional eyes, our minds-eye, it will stop us from believing and trusting God for the outcome of the situation.
Giants and Shadows come into our lives in many forms, and we have to defeat those giants and ignore those shadows. We have to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We have to first seek God with all of our heart. We need to praise and worship God which draws our focus to Him. We need to ramp up our ‘secret place meetings’ with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit because when the Giants come and the shadows overwhelm us, we need to be ready with a good report. Like Joshua & Caleb and David, we need to be ready to see things from God’s perspective. We need to have Heavenly Armour in place. We must trust God and believe He can deliver us.
I bless you today to seek God, to know God, to have His thoughts and know His ways. I bless you today to walk by faith, and see the victory that Jesus has won at the cross for us. I bless you today that if you are facing your own ‘Giants’ that you would gaze upon the beauty of God, that you would know the plans He has for you and that you would use every weapon He has given you to fight. I bless you today to be drawn back into the arms of the Father, and to rest in His Presence, receiving His love and His healing and His breakthrough. I bless you today to sit at the feet of Jesus and be restored and renewed by Him. I bless you today to know that Holy Spirit is your guide, counsellor and helper.
I decree and declare over you that no weapon formed against you is going to prosper because that is God’s promise to you. I declare that every tongue that rises against you in judgement or accusation will be refuted by you. I declare over your life that peace, righteousness and security in Jesus triumphs over opposition. I declare that this righteousness is imparted to you from the Lord as your justification and because this is your heritage as servants of the Lord. (Isaiah 54:17)
Today be Bold, Strong and Courageous and know that the Victory is yours in Jesus Name.
Blessings
Jean