Chapter 9 - Fighting Giants

This Summer marks 3 years since the Lord asked me to quit my job and a year and a half since we sold our home. I believe with my whole heart that God has a purpose for this season we've been in. I have seen it. I've seen him draw close and teach us things we would not have been ready to learn. I've seen him answering prayers I've prayed for a long time. It sure looks different than I expected, but he's working none the less. I've seen him use our experience to teach others. I've seen him set us free from things we didn't even realize were holding us back, and I've seen him begin to set a fire in us that I believe we will see the effects of not only for our lifetime, but in the lives of our kids as well.  

I believe God is preparing our hearts for our next step, and in so doing He has been using the giants the Israelites had to face as they entered the promised land to reveal to me that I have some giants of my own that I have to face as we move into the things the Lord has promised us. 

It all started as I read Numbers 13. You may know it as the promise land scouting trip. God leads Moses to send out 12 men, one from each tribe, to explore the land of Canaan. The twelve men go out and when they come back they report that the land is amazing. They explain, it's everything they thought it would be and more, but they also share with the whole community that "the people living there are powerful, and their towns are large and fortified. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak!" This was a big deal. The Anakites were so big and strong the people believed they were descendants of gods and they felt defeated before they even began their journey to the promise land. 

There are 3 things God showed me about giants.  The first is this:

1 . GIANTS STAND BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR PROMISED LAND.

The giants might not have been actual descendants of gods, but the truth is there were giants. They had actual, very large hurdles to face, making it hard to believe that they could ever experience what the Lord had promised. We also have giants of our own standing between us and living out/experiencing what God has promised us. 

But there's more to the story. Twelve men went out to scout the land and they all saw the same thing, but 2 of them came back with a different perspective. Joshua and Caleb saw the same giants, but they believed God was with them and tried to instruct the people to not be afraid. 

TRUTH: Giants stand between you and your promised land, but what you believe about God will determine how you respond to those giants. 

• What are your giants? Do they have you defeated and feeling like you will never experience what the Lord has for you? Or do you believe God is with you and you don't have to be afraid?

2. GIANTS HAVE TO BE DESTROYED.

When the time came to face those giants Joshua led the people as God instructed (accounts recorded in the book of Joshua). God was very clear. Each time they fought people in the land God's instructions were to completely destroy them all. My first thought was "man, that seems brutal." That's been my thought every time I've read through the Old Testament accounts of battles, but this time God gave me a little different understanding. With my own "giants" fresh on my mind God allowed me to see those towns and those people as "giants" standing between his people and his promises. They were the thing that stood between the Israelites living in freedom and serving the Lord wholeheartedly. That was and still is one of the most important things to God, that we can serve him wholeheartedly and live the life he has promised us. That threat is not just to be moved aside, or knocked down temporarily. It is serious. It is to be completely destroyed. His people (me and you) are so precious to him that he doesn't want anything standing between us and his love for us.

He led the Israelites through each battle. He went ahead of them. He fought for them. He showed them they really didn't have anything to fear as he did exactly what he said he would do. He proved his faithfulness over and over again as they did the work of battle, but God fought with them and for them when they faced their giants. 

TRUTH: Giants have to be destroyed, but he never expects you to do it alone. He will always fight with you and for you. 

• What steps would you take today if you knew God was going to give you what you needed to destroy your giants? 

3. GIANTS WILL ALWAYS BE A THREAT.

Even when we destroy the giants, whether it's sin in our lives, lies we are believing, or simply a lack of trusting God and his promises, Satan will work hard to resurrect them. They will always be a threat we have to watch out for. I believe that's why years later, when there were many battles won and the Israelites had been assigned their own portions of the promised land Joshua recounts their journey and concludes his time as their leader by giving the people a choice. 

"So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:14-15 (NLT)

I am, as I'm sure we all are, familiar with that final verse. I have seen it many times from coffee cups, to artwork in homes, but I must admit, I didn't know the context surrounding it. I couldn't have even told you Joshua was the one who said it. I know it now, and it will never be the same. It will forever be my reminder that today and every day, I choose to not let these giants I defeat come back and deter my heart from the Lord. 

It will make its way to a piece of artwork in my home and be a prominent reminder every time I see it that I choose the Lord. I choose to believe his promises. I choose to believe he will fight with me. I choose to believe I can defeat my giants today and forever! 

TRUTH: Giants will always be a threat...

"But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."

Joshua 24:15b

• What will you choose today? Will you choose to go back to your old ways? Will you choose the gods of your giants? Or will you serve the Lord? 

Chapter 8 - The Valley of Blessing

So, here we are still in our apartment, still wondering what it is that God is doing. However, recently I arrived at a look out point and looked out over all the things I had feared the most when this journey started, and all I saw was a Valley of Blessing.

You see, one of the passages that God kept taking me to when this all started was 2 Chronicles 20. It's the story where Jehoshaphat learned that 3 of his enemies had joined together planning to fight as one "vast army" against him. "Jehoshaphat was terrified by this news and begged the Lord for guidance." This has been our MO during this journey. We have been afraid, unsure of what was to happen when we faced our "brick wall" (take a look here if you want to know more about it), yet we have sought the Lord every step of the way. 

Jehoshaphat's story continues as he calls all the people together to fast and pray. It's there the Lord says, "Do not be afraid! Don't be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God's." He gives them their instructions and tells them "you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory." (2 Chronicles 20:15-17 NLT)

As God uses this season to continue to teach me to let go of control and trust him completely (He's been working on this in my life for about 8 years now, but that's not what we are here to talk about today) this passage has been my go to over and over again. I continually want to do anything I can to fix the problem. I could simply go out and get a full time job, but God takes me right back to this verse and says "STAND STILL." 

Despite the Lord's instruction to not be afraid, I think Jehoshaphat must have sensed the people were struggling with fear as they set out to STAND against the "vast army" that opposed them. "On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, 'Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.'" They gathered their courage, strengthened with faith and continued on their way, but this time "the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the Lord and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang: 'Give thanks to the Lord; his faithful love endures forever!'" (2 Chronicles 20:20-21 NLT)

Fear has been a big part of this journey for us, too. Fear, frustration, anger, heartache to name a few, but still we sing. Singing when we didn't feel like it. (Maybe I'll write more about this later.) We may have both questioned God, even wrestled down our faith, but still we sang. We sought after the Lord, we showed up at church, we sang worship songs, we served the Lord, and we have continually thanked him, even when we've had to look for the things to thank him for. Like the example Jehoshaphat set, we chose to believe God is faithful even before we saw the evidence in these particular circumstances. We, of course, have plenty of evidence from the Bible and from other times in our lives to encourage that faith.

The coolest part of this story is that it says "At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the Lord caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves...So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped...They gathered the valuables, more than they could carry...On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got it's name that day because the people praised and thanked the Lord there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today." (2 Chronicles 20:22-26 NLT)

I know he's working on our behalf, but I haven't seen the results I've wanted or expected. I have longed to step into his blessing. To live out the "more than they could carry." I don't know what he still may have in store as he fulfills the promises he's spoken to us in this journey, but this week I topped the hill and arrived at the lookout point. I sat down with my journal from September of 2016 and reread the things I cried out to God about. I read about the things that I feared the most. I looked back at what it really was I saw as "the brick wall" I've feared so much, and I saw it...thankfully it was not dead bodies, but it was all the blessings in place of those fears. 

"God, this step is hard. I know it shouldn't be, but it's hard. I'm so thankful for this gift you've given us, this house, this life, this baby. I just keep finding myself overwhelmed. I have no idea what's next. I have no idea how we will pay for a move or a baby or to stay. God, I learn more with every step just how uncomfortable I am being out of control." These are words from my journal dated 9/2/16. I still cant read them without crying thinking about the emotion behind those words, but today I can look out over that valley and see how even at that very moment he was working in the hearts of people around us to provide for each one of those fears. 

• He blessed us through friends who simply wrote checks and covered the medical bills to deliver a baby.
• He blessed us when precious (and I'm sure broke) NewSpring Leadership College Students collected money and sent gift cards for gas and date nights. 
• He blessed us with friends who helped us with house projects and took money out of their own cuts to fix up and sell our house so we could make as much money as possible when we sold it. 
• He blessed us with friends who sent over huge boxes of diapers with no prompting, and regular gifts that came in just when we needed them most. 
• He blessed is with what we needed to provide a nice Christmas not just for our 3 kids, but to help a couple others with theirs as well. 
• He blessed us with the provision to make two upcoming trips to celebrate family milestones.
• He blessed us with a large financial gift to put towards a down payment on a house, more than we could save over several years of our absolute best efforts. 

These things were all after he had already blessed us with a CAR when we had no idea how we were going to replace one that died. And even now...as I was preparing how to get these thoughts from my head to you, PT sent me a picture of $350 cash someone anonymously left for him with a note that said "Cooper Gauntlet." (cue all the tears)

All that to say, I had to share as I realized this week, we hit a lookout point and discovered what has become so clearly a Valley of Blessing. We may still be working hard to keep expenses lower than our income so we can continue to steward our finances well, and still asking God what our next step is that gets us out of this tiny apartment. However, we have definitely busted through our "brick wall" we feared so much and are praising him from the Valley of Blessing and we want to use every opportunity we can to give glory to God and teach our kids (and anyone who will listen) to sing the song of Jehoshaphat's army, "Give thanks to the Lord! His faithful love endures forever!"