Tim BarkerComment

giants

Tim BarkerComment
giants

Goliath was a giant. He was 9 feet tall, a champion, wearing heavy armor, standing and shouting, defying the people of God (1 Samuel 17:1–11).

As well as physical giants, there are metaphorical ones. A ‘giant’ is a big, seemingly insurmountable problem or issue.

  • ‘Personal giants’ could include giant personal challenges in relation to your health, marriage, family, relationships or lack of relationships, job or lack of a job, other work issues, or some sin, temptation, addiction, fear, loneliness, discouragement, or debt.

  • ‘National giants’ in the US include terrorism, gang violence, homelessness, the breakdown of the marriage, family life and community, exploding prison populations, failing schools, and the decline of church congregations. There is therefore the giant task of evangelizing the country, revitalizing the church, and transforming our society.

  • ‘Global giants’ include extreme poverty (as a result of which thousands of children die each day), preventable disease (millions dying of diseases for which we have a relatively easy cure), the need for universal primary education (almost one billion people unable to read) and the need for worldwide water sanitation (which could be funded by the amount of money that Americans spend on ice-cream every year).

There are two possible attitudes when facing a giant. One is to say, ‘It’s so big, there’s nothing I can do.’ The other is to say, ‘It’s so big, I can’t miss!’

Think global - Psalm 67:1-7

God loves the entire world. He wants all nations and peoples to know him, worship, and love him.

The psalmist prayed for God’s blessing on his people in order that ‘your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations’ (v.2).

We see in this psalm that the global vision for the people of God beyond their own borders was foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

The psalmist prays for the entire globe (v.3–5). If we are to tackle the global giants, we need a global vision. The words of this psalm are all about God. The size of your vision will be dependent on the size of your vision will be dependent on the size of your vision of God. As A.W. Tozer put it, ‘What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.’