Slaying Giants

A How-To*

*Disclaimer: this is not the only how-to for slaying giants, but it is a very specific how-to for slaying the giant of anxiously trying to “follow Biblical protocol” in a reactionary way, in order to obtain our desperately-desired outcome (as opposed to being responsive from a grounded, peaceful place). 

How ugly are the giants you face? 

I’ve been working out the idea that the giants that get sent to torment us are often perfectly suited to exploiting our particular vulnerabilities. It’s like the devil knows where we’re weak, and exactly what will be the most terrifying and offensive to us, and where he can inject his anxiety and give us really good reasons to fall off the “trusting the Lord” wagon. (Actually, a great example of this is the bogart from Harry Potter, a being that would morph into the very worst fear of the person beholding it.)

Here’s what I mean: 

Say you are faced with a horrible situation. I’m sure you can imagine one. It strikes terror into your heart, and suddenly you feel like you have to DO something about it– you have to fight! You have to resist the devil: assert your authoritay! You know some scripture, maybe you know particular verses that speak to this situation– they become your weapons, and it’s praying time. 

With me so far?

Okay, I’m going to throw a wrench:

Have you ever prayed at your giant out of your anxiety? 

He reared his ugly head, and you frantically gathered what you had and with your own power lobbed it as hard as you could at him?

Has that ever failed?

It has failed me. In awful, heartbreaking ways. 

Not just because I didn’t get the result I was desperately, anxiously praying for, but also because I realized that I was completely disconnected from what God was actually doing. My fear of the worst-case scenario caused me to use all my chosen scripture verses as if they were talismans to ward it off. Deep down I didn't want to believe there could be any goodness or peace or healing in a world where that scenario took place. It could only be bad, and I needed to resist it! This reactionary state of mind kept me from recognizing my giant for what he was and responding accordingly. 

Do you know what the giants are? Just one thing, though they come in a billion different disguises. 

They are the questions, over and over: “did God really say? Is he actually going to take care of you? Is he actually going to heal? Is he actually going to deliver? Does he really care about you?”

The giant’s job is to persuade you to trade the Truth for its lies, to trade resting in God’s promises and letting him take care of you for striving under your own power. The giant is a large, offensive, and highly personal distraction. 

But how do we combat the giant from a place other than our own power or anxiety? 

We don’t have to engage directly, at least not to begin with. Our first response can be a kind of flight, but it's not about running from the giant–it's about turning to the defeater of giants. 

Shield up next: we deflect the story that the circumstances tell us, they aren't the final word. Bounce them right over to the Lord, surrender them, tattle on them, do whatever you have to do–acknowledge them but don't hold them tightly. Those stories are not under your jurisdiction, and you are not under theirs. Your job is to give them to God and start reminding him, and yourself, ad nauseam, what his promises are. 

“The doctor said such and such, but God YOU are the one that heals. YOU are the one that takes care of us. YOU are faithful who promised. There’s no one else that has your power, there’s no one else who can deliver. You have already redeemed us from sin, death, and the devil, and this situation is small potatoes to a God as immense and powerful as you. I praise you because you aren’t surprised by this situation, and you already have a plan. Thank you for how you take care of us. Thank you for opening our eyes to your glory. Thank you for making our paths straight and giving us your peace–a peace that doesn’t make any sense, but exists in defiance of this awful situation. You are the BEST, Lord. You gave us your own son–how will you not give us everything else we need?? We can’t wait to see what you’re up to. Show us what you want us to do. We’re listening and ready. You’re amazing, Lord, there’s no one else like you!”

This is what our warfare looks like. Get salty, get angry, be honest about the fear and what you’re feeling! Tell him in no uncertain terms which outcome your heart desires, he wants to know it from your own mouth! And then tell God who he is. Remind yourself of how He’s taken care of business in the past. Start listing your ebenezers, your testimonies, all the markers in your life that declare “the Lord has helped us all the way to this point, and he’s not about to stop now!”

This is the work of putting ourselves in alignment with his movements and of resting in him, this is what it looks like for our lives to be hidden in Christ. This is where we begin to understand fully and deeply “the Lord is my helper, what can man (or any enemy) do to me?” This is the trust and invitation that allows God to exercise the scope of his power more fully in our lives. He will show us next steps, direct us in how we speak to the situation. We’ll ba able to flow with an indescribable peace that doesn’t make sense given the situation. 

The incredible things God has done for my family when we’ve practiced this attitude and posture toward him could fill a book. However, this is not an outcome-based practice. 

Ew, that's kind of uncomfortable, isn't it?

Often we can be completely obsessed with outcomes and our need to control them. It's as if getting the result we don’t want is proof of us being failures and God not loving us (or if those aren't the particular fears you're vulnerable to, there are a whole host of other negative stories we tell ourselves about why God didn't answer our prayers–and if you can identify "what you make it mean" when you don't get the outcome you want, you'll be a large step closer to healing in your walk with the Lord). Nevertheless, this obsession makes us easy pickings for the giants, and for the enemy that sends them. 

The practice I’m describing is relationship based. It is exercising our trust to near body-building levels. It is giving up the idol of outcome and instead focusing on the glory of God that is already here. It's recognizing the anxiety as a red flag–the signal to not keep our fear to ourself, but spill it and all our emotions to the Father. It’s returning to that place of praise every time the giant tries to get a word in edgewise. 

Will we sustain losses? 

Yes. 

Will they still hurt? 

Sometimes unbearably. 

But those losses are not failure, no matter what the giant tells you. And ultimately they have to serve God's greatest yes, and do us good, too. They have no choice. But – we have the choice of allowing them to enter our pile of ebenezers or not, based on what we choose to believe about them. 

The devastation we experience from witnessing death and loss and the opposite of our hopes coming true is very real. We can be overwhelmed by confusion and hurt and despair, but none of these things can separate us from God's love or His promises. Mind-bogglingly, the truth of his love and promise will always be bigger–will always be more true–than all the pain we feel, but we are always safe and welcome in his love to feel it, no judgment added.

He holds the ultimate victory, whether or not I receive my preferred outcome in any given situation. I will hand over my anxiety so that I can see his glory, knowing that whatever comes and whatever goes, he adores me and will not forsake me. I will see the goodness of God in the land of the living, regardless of what circumstances look like now. No matter what, he won't let me be put to shame.

“The Lord is right here with you. Don’t be worried about anything, but for everything be praying and praising, and let God know your requests. And the peace of God, which makes absolutely no heckin’ sense, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:5-7, the Faith version

“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Romans 8:33-39