Name the Giants & Don’t Fight Alone

When we transition into new territory like a new town, a new job, a new relationship, we have a critical choice to make. We will hear voices that say, “Oh no! There’s giants in the land. We won’t make it against them.” (What we don’t say directly is that this really translates to, “Oh no! Giants! There’s no way my God is big enough to protect me from them.) Or we can listen to the voice that says, “God told us we’d have victory here, so I’m going to trust Him and enter this new promised land.” We will hear opposing reports. These reports can sound like faith and trust and courage or fear and doubt and anxiety.

Which Report Will You Believe?

I’m learning that if I name the giants, it’s easier to take them down. If I call out the giants by name, it’s easier to rebuke them and command them to flee. And it helps me recognize which giants I need to be on alert for. For example, if something you’ve always dreamed of and prayed for is coming to pass, there can be great joy. There can also be giants. If we name the giants fear of rejection, fear of hope deferred, fear of disappointment, fear of being let down, fear of failure, then we can call them out and tell them to flee.

I have a hunch that at every new territory and every new beginning, there will be a battle between our faith and doubts, our trust and our fears. If we can name the giants, they somehow shrink in size. When we expose the darkness, it loses its power. And when we cover ourselves in the blood of Jesus and use our authority to command the giants to flee, then we have the victory.

Do Not Fight Alone.

Giants are also not something we can always conquer on our own. Reading Exodus and Deuteronomy lately, I see how many times Moses was unable to get the victory on his own. We just are not designed to be solitary lone rangers.

Not by choice but by circumstance, I’ve been forced into that position. I will tell you, you can do everything right. You can praise, pray, take up your authority, stand in faith. You can do it all right and you’ll make it but it’s nothing like when the victory is won with others by your side. When we pray the armor of God over us in America, I am willing to bet most of us picture just us in battle against the darkness. But that shield faith? It was designed to link up with the shields of fellow soldiers. A united front, an impenetrable army. That’s why we need prayer partners so much. They lift our hands when we grow weary. They believe for us when our faith is shaky.

So name the giants. Exercise your authority in Christ. But don’t fight them alone. Reach out for prayer partnership from others. I know I would have died in the wilderness if I hadn’t been praising God and praying the Word and taking up authority in Christ and pleading the blood. God’s grace is enough to see us through the isolation of the wilderness. But I will tell you that the promised land is full of milk and honey … and prayer warriors by your side.

As my old pastor Phil used to say, “No one fights alone.” When you’re doing everything right but still not seeing the full victory, it’s very likely that the missing link. We are created for community, for victory, for fellowship. Do not let any offense keep you from reentering the Body of Christ. We need each other and more and more so as the Day of Redemption draws near.