David, a ruddy faced boy who loved attending sheep in his father’s fields, slew Goliath, a giant over nine feet tall. Goliath was notorious as a Philistine champion. He walked toward David sneering and cursing him. 1Samuel 17:44-46(NLT) tells us, “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 45 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.46 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!” David’s faith in God is epic! Because of it, he killed the giant with a slingshot to Goliath’s head. David’s unwavering belief that God would back him is what we call ‘giant faith’. He proved that faith in God always conquers victoriously, especially when everything seems to be stacked against you.
In 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), God told the Apostle Paul, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” This should be a tremendous comfort to those of us that are really going through it today. There should be no doubt in our minds that when we believe God’s Word and trust that He will come to our aid, His power will overtake our circumstances and cause everything to cooperate for our good.
The Wait
Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit produces this fruit in us through the circumstances and situations of life. Waiting on the deliverance of God is troublesome for some people because they have not yet learned to be patient. We live in a culture that has taught us to expect everything on the double. Although this may be the culture of society, is it not the culture of heaven, and therefore, it cannot be the way that God’s children operate. As Heavenly Father’s children of light, having patience is not up for debate. We must have it.
Isaiah 40:31(ESV) states, “but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” During the wait, sometimes it can seem as if things are coming unglued and falling apart. This can happen at a rate that exceeds our ability to hold things together. Often, we will see pieces falling to the ground, and our tendency is to pick them up, but the pace of their descend is beyond our capacity. This is a sure indication that a lesson of patience is before us. Because of this, we must resist the urge to react by picking up broken pieces. Instead, we must firmly grasp the habit of responding to every obstacle with prayer and waiting on God.
You are prepared
Everything in David’s young life had prepared him to face the giant. In his father’s fields, he had faced tremendous dangers already. He told Saul in 1Samuel 34-35(NLT), ““I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.”” David’s young years were filled with experiences and encounters that prepared him to face the giant with courage and faith in God. In like manner, we have been prepared throughout our life’s experiences. Although it may not seem like it to us, we have all we need to face the obstacle or adversity that is staring us in the face today.
Nothing about your life is random. Romans 8:29(NLT) states, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” God is always and forever in control. He knows everything there is to know about us. He’s not in heaven pulling our strings and moving us about like puppets. He’s watching our every move and waiting for us to invite Him fully into our lives so He can help us. He knows the plans He has for us, and when we humble ourselves under His sovereignty, we will obtain a greater vision of how He’s been working behind the scenes to help and bless us all our lives.
Romans 8:28 tells us that God is the One that causes all things to work together for our good. He’s the Leader, we’re the followers, and we can at no time afford to be unclear about this. He has a plan for our lives, and we are fully prepared at this moment to trust in Him above all things. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that we cannot please God without having faith in Him. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, God has given us everything we need to rally ourselves in faith and wait on Him to do what only He can. This is the posture we must assume to have giant faith when life is hard.
More than a conqueror
David demonstrated for us that faith in God is a response to life, and it is always the right one. It positions us for victory every time. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing God’s Word. When we’re committed to reading and studying God’s Word, we will learn His promises. We’ll learn that through His Son’s sacrifice and resurrection, He’s made a more than abundant life available to each of us. This doesn’t mean that just because we want something, we can have it. We stumble when we think that we can believe for anything without hearing from God’s Word whether that thing is available or whether God has ordained this thing for our lives. We need to get in God’s Word, enlighten our minds, and learn to hear from Him through His Holy Spirit.
Conquerors conquer, that’s what they do. Romans 8:37 tells us that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. 1Corinthians 15:57 tells us that we should be ever so thankful to God because He has given us victory through our Lord and Savior. This is victory through every adversity, obstacle, and any other thing the devil puts in our way. Jesus Christ is the living Word of God! It stands to reason that conquering through him requires us to know who he is. Knowing Jesus through God’s Word is a lifelong process. It means we never stop knowing and never stop growing.
Faith is meant to increase, and rest assured it is meant to increase us. Increasing is the way of all God’s creation. As our faith increases, we will live a greater life because our experiences and encounters will increase as well. God’s design is that we meet every experience and encounter with faith in Him. This means that you and I must be a different kind of person than we were before our wilderness experience began. God expects us to step up to the challenge of greater faith and learn to be the conquerors that He’s made us through Christ. Our prayer lives much become more consistent, we must spend more time in God’s Word, and we must worship and praise God with a greater level of gratitude and thankfulness. These are required for giant faith when life is hard. So, when increasing our trust, confidence, and patience in God is our goal, He will meet us with the strength and power that is guaranteed to slay any giant. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
“How to Have Faith When Life is Hard, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.