Sling It!Pavyzdys

I - Identity over Insecurity

If you have seen the UK show ‘Gladiators’, you’ll know that they strut out flexing their muscles, accompanied by their own theme tune, getting in the contestants' faces. They are literally egos in Lycra! Our giants, similarly, can mock us. The Bible says that Goliath taunted David; this was an audible voice, as it is for the contestants on Gladiators - “You are a loser,” “you’re going down,” etc.

When a contestant is beaten by a Gladiator, they play the Queen song “Another one bites the Dust.“ Do you know this phrase is in the bible? Psalm 72:9 says, “May the desert tribes bow before him and his enemies lick the dust.” So if any loud mouthed giant taunts you, you can grab your foam hand and sing/quote that scripture to them!

For us, it may be more of a subtle jeering that we experience from our giants. Maybe it’s more like consistently snide comments from someone at work that make you feel undervalued. Maybe it’s a voice in your head that whispers you are nothing and that this problem is going to defeat you. Our giants may not shout verbal abuse at us as Goliath did (or as the egos in Lycra on Gladiators do), but they still can be very vocal, and we can allow their voices to have too much volume in our lives.

We need to examine David’s example when we are up against the jeering of our giants. David’s security was in God. His identity was strong, even when an impressive-looking giant shouted threats at his face. Saul offered David his armour, but David rejected it because he knew it wasn’t a good fit for him. David knew his own mind and his own strengths and skills.

It’s very easy for insecurity to creep in when we are facing giants, but we have to decide to reflect on how big God is rather than how impressive-looking our enemy is. Giants shrink rapidly in comparison to Almighty God.

Each one of us has been uniquely designed by a loving God. The bible says in Psalm 139 that God knit you together in your mother’s womb - there has been real intentional design and thought taken in creating you. When you begin to live with an understanding of how special you are to God, you can approach giant-sized battles with a different level of confidence because your identity is secure. When you know that you are loved, valued and chosen, you can stand undaunted because Almighty God is on your side.