I found the book Facing Your Giants by Max Lucado a few weeks ago at walmart for 5 bucks. although ive got very little money, this was one book i couldnt pass up. I have been wanting to read this book and for 5 bucks, that was a steal!
anyway i started reading it last week. and wow its awesome! It was really spoken to me. I decided to write this blog b/c 1. it will help me to process and better learn and remember what I read, and 2.maybe it will encourage someone. idk but anyway
The first chapter is called facing your giants. Lucado tells the story of David and Goliath in a way that is just awesome to read. He makes a few points that stuck out to me. When we are faced with a problem is that all we see, or do we see God in the midst of it? When David faced Goliath, he faced Him in the power of God Almighty. None of the other Isrealites bothered to even mention God. We have to focus on God not on our problems. We must remain God-focued, not giant-focused.
Another point that Lucado mentions that I loved is that David majored in God. He say the giant, yet He saw God even more so!
1 Samuel 17:45 (New International Version)
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
To many times we run away from our “giants” when what we need to do is run towards them and do so with a “God-saturated soul.” David ran quickly towards Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:48). The only way to face our giants is to do so with our focus on God. In 2 Samuel David makes only 2 statements regarding Goliath, yet he makes 9 statements about God. Clearly David’s focus was on God and not Goliath! Lucado asks the question, “Do you ponder God’s grace four times as much as you ponder your guilt?” That question made me think. I am one who ponders over guilt again and again. It is something the devil uses to bring me away from God. I was challenged to be mindful of God’s grace and not to forget it and to think on it rather than on all the times I’ve screwed up. I can’t let guilt keep me from being who God wants me to be. That is something that God starting teaching me last semester and I am continuing to learn that lesson!
The last thing that Lucado says that I love is this phrase-
Focus on giants-you stumble
Focus on God-you giants tumble
God can make us people to overcome and defeat giants just like He did with David. That excites me! I am glad to know that I serve a God who can help me overcome the “giants” in my life.
Well, that’s just what I learned from chapter 1. I may write more in the future on the rest chapters. We’ll see!!
