Overcoming the Giants That Talk

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. In this season, in this time in history, we need faith in God more than ever. God has great redemptive plans for your life, but these plans will be realized through faith, not fear.

What Does Fear Really Mean?

The Hebrew definition of fear gives us a powerful word picture: the hand you see will be the hand that you're in awe of.

Do you see God's hand as the awesome source of life, protection, help, hope, and courage? Or do you see the enemy's awful hand—a fist to shame, hurt, punish, steal, kill, and destroy?

Giants Always Talk

Recently, a young woman named Tasha was told she had brain cancer while 20 weeks pregnant. Three doctors told her she needed an abortion and chemotherapy immediately. Giants always talk.

Tasha didn't deny feeling scared, but she held onto hope. She had deep conversations with Jesus in the hospital and knew if she held onto the Lord and His promises, He would keep her baby safe. Fear talks, but faith in God talks louder, better, and stronger.

In the face of her fight for life, Tasha gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Gracie. She credits her father for teaching her to always put her trust in Jesus.

How Often Does God Tell Us Not to Fear?

God tells us to "fear not" or "be anxious for nothing" over 365 times in the Bible—enough for fearless living every day of an entire year.

Fear has always been a major obstacle to creativity, peace, progress, health, and innovation. Great leaders throughout history have identified fear as the primary barrier to overcome:

• Henry Ford said: "One of the greatest discoveries a man makes is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do."
• Babe Ruth advised: "Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."
• Rosa Parks observed: "I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear."
• Florence Nightingale stated: "How very little can be done under the spirit of fear."

How Do Your Thoughts Affect Your Feelings?

In overcoming fear, if you change your thinking, you will change how you feel. Your feelings follow your thinking.

Most people have turned down great opportunities simply because of how they feel. If you try to change your feelings, you'll spend a lifetime running from your thinking. If you feel afraid, your thinking is meditating on fear.

Simply put: behavior follows belief. If you want to live a good life, you must have good thinking. The enemy knows this, so he wages war against your mind. His number one weapon? Fear—a mental construct.

What Can We Learn from David and Goliath?

Fear shows up like a giant—big, ugly, scary, armed with weapons—and always talking trash. Whether it's a disease, poverty, an abusive relationship, or a terrible storm, fear always talks trash.

In 1 Samuel 17, we find the famous story of David and Goliath. The Philistines sent out Goliath every day for 40 days, taunting and intimidating Israel. Everyone was terrified until a shepherd boy, David, showed up with a slingshot and words of faith.

When 10 feet of ugly towering terror met a small faith-talking teenager, David ran at the giant in the name of the Lord and defeated him. Giants talk, but faith talks bigger and better. Faith in God talks with overcoming authority.

Most people miss the real point of this story. It's not so much about killing giants as it is about defeating the giant of fear—overcoming the terror produced when giants talk.

Where Did Fear First Come From?

To understand fear, we must trace its origin in the Bible. In Genesis 3, we find Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden—happy, naked, and unafraid.

The serpent deceived Eve, questioning God's word: "Has God really said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" After they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit, they suddenly realized they were naked and felt ashamed.

When they heard God walking in the garden, they hid themselves. When God called out, Adam replied, "I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself."

They traded good thinking for bad thinking, allowing a mental construct based on a lie. For the first time in humanity, we see self-protection kick in—covering up to reduce vulnerability. But this had a cruel side effect: it cost them the very presence of God, the source of life.

How Does Fear Progress in Our Lives?

From the Garden of Eden to present day, fear unfolds in a person's life through a predictable pattern:

1. It starts with a lie or deception
2. This gives birth to fear
3. Fear causes us to make an evil alliance or agreement

For example:

• Lie: "You're not loved" → Fear of rejection → Alliance with self-sabotage, control, perfectionism
• Lie: "You can't do it" → Fear of failure → Alliance with excuses, blame, criticism
• Lie: "God rejects you" → Fear of judgment → Alliance with religion, penance, sickness
• Lie: "Tragedy is coming" → Fear of living → Alliance with despair, disease, suicidal thinking

What Happens When Fear Takes Control?

The story of a Christian family in Minnesota illustrates the devastating power of fear. Their son—an amazing athlete, handsome, smart, and well-liked—allowed catastrophic thinking to enter his mind. Worry about his destiny and a sense of impending doom took hold.

Unable to deal with the fear and anxiety, he made an alliance with thoughts of self-destruction and despair. His parents came home to find him hanging in their garage.

Worry comes from an old English word meaning "to strangle" like a wolf does. Many young people feel the deadly grip of worry and fear squeezing off any hope in their lives. We all need God's truth to break this stranglehold.

Mark Twain wisely noted: "I've had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened." If faith moves mountains, fear metastasizes the problem.

How Does Fear Paralyze Us?

Fear can be understood through this acronym: F.E.A.R. - Falsehood Eclipsing All Reality. The closer a falsehood gets to your eye, the more it becomes all you see and know.

The talk of fear giants often causes paralysis and atrophying of life movement. There might be an immediate fight-or-flight reaction, but it quickly turns into a cage of paralysis.

Dale Carnegie said, "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage." Claude Pepper observed, "Life is like a bicycle. You don't fall off unless you stop pedaling."

Fear, left unchecked, has the power to cage and destroy you from the inside out. It spreads like a virus, contaminating every part of your life.

How Do We Overcome Fear?

God says in Deuteronomy, "I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Make a choice—you choose." Philippians 4:6 instructs us to "be anxious for nothing."

Jesus warned his disciples about lies and counterfeits of religious fearful thinking. The Pharisees used lies to control people—a misrepresentation of God, just like the serpent in Eden.

John 8:44 reminds us that the devil "is a liar and the father of it." Satan accomplishes his heinous acts using his core resources: lies and deceit. The falsehood he spreads manifests first as fear, stress, worry, and doubt, then crescendos to anxiety.

Can Satan Stop You?

Philippians 4:13 says you can do all things through Christ Jesus. Satan cannot stop you, but he can persuade you to doubt, invert your faith, and quit trusting God.

Norman Vincent Peale said, "Fear is never a reason for quitting. It is only an excuse." Excuses don't require faith, but trusting God activates faith power.

The devil's plan is simple: he wants you to stop yourself. He wants you working for him against yourself. God doesn't give you a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

What Is God's Answer to Fear?

Have you ever experienced this? You're having a great week, feeling confident and hopeful. Suddenly, you get a phone call or text, a worried thought comes up, or you receive an angry look. Doubt explodes in your head and heart. Falsehood eclipses all reality.

It's the dangerous proximity of falsehood. Put your finger up to your eye—it's not the biggest thing in the room, but it looks like it when it gets that close.

The enemy's strategy is isolation—divide and conquer. So many people lie awake at night, worried and fretting over what to do.

How Does God's Love Conquer Fear?

Since the Garden of Eden, where humanity lost its covering, God has desired to shield and protect us. Philippians 4:7 says, "And God's peace, which transcends all understanding, shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

God sees our vulnerability and our need. To God, who is love, fear is unacceptable. Love expels fear. Love never shows fear, concession, or understanding.

In Matthew 8:24-26, Jesus and his disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee when a violent storm arose. The disciples panicked while Jesus slept. When they woke Him saying, "Lord save us, we perish," Jesus replied, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then He calmed the storm.

Jesus was at rest in the eye of the storm. He cares for you, but He doesn't esteem fear. Love puts no value on the storm, yet marvels that we would give ear to fear.

Fear is simply faith in deception. As Jamie Foxx said, "What's on the other side of fear? Nothing."

Life Application

You were designed to live fear-free. "Whom the Son sets free is free indeed." God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Fear is a spiritual problem that takes advantage of situational occurrences—storms, bad news, pandemics, bills, doctor reports. But God's answer remains the same: His gift of power, love, and a sound mind.

Romans 10:17 tells us, "Faith comes by hearing the word of God"—not by experiences or events.

Here are some practical steps to apply this week:

1. Identify the lies that are feeding your fears. What falsehoods have gotten too close to your eye?
2. Resist making deals with fear. Don't sanction fear as some hidden blessing from God.
3. Open your mouth with faith-filled words. Speak against your fears out loud.
4. Receive God's peace as a guard over your heart and mind.

Ask yourself:

• What "giant talk" am I listening to in my life right now?
• What agreements have I made with fear just to ease the pain?
• How can I replace worry and anxiety with God's power, love, and sound mind?

Remember, giants always talk—but faith in God talks louder, and that talk slays giants. You can be fearless and faith-filled. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

~Dr. Stephen Marshall