Discouragement and fear have crippled me more than I’d like to admit. As a coach, I’ve seen how these giants paralyzed others too. That’s why I’m always looking for practical tools to fight these damaging enemies. Karen Porter’s new book, If You Give a Girl a Giant, is filled with fresh insights for not only challenging discouragement and fear but also the giants of defeat and self. “Make no mistake,” Karen writes, “the giants want to destroy you and me. To confuse, condemn, and cause us to fail. If they can’t destroy, they want to distract us from God’s path. . . We are not equipped to fight the battle. But God gives us the weapons to outsmart each giant who dares to raise its ugly head.”
Until I read Karen’s book I never realized, Goliath, as in the story of David and Goliath, had four brothers who were also giants. And the meaning of their names are the giants we come face-to-face with in our lives—discouragement, defeat, fear and self. What is equally fascinating is, each one of Goliath’s brothers was slain by one of David’s mighty warriors whose names reveal the weapons we can use to fight these enemies.
Here are four principles from If You Give a Girl a Giant to help you slay your giant:
Every time I trust God, a giant falls.
Giants rely on logic, reasoning or examples. I will rely on God’s Word.
Giant-talk often sounds great. Truth mixed with a falsehood is false.
Giants want us to explain God. Giant-slayers allow God to reveal himself.
Karen writes this near the end of the book:
“Every person who never killed a giant will tell you it’s impossible. But the
Giants represent more than we can see. God may allow your giant battles so that you will grow spiritually and mentally. God may allow the enemy to send a giant to you so you can be a weapon against Satan. Coming face to face with your giant is not an accident. It’s a divine appointment.”
It is terrifying to face and fight a giant. Everything within me screams to run or hide.
When I muster up courage with God’s help and stand to face the giant (Eph. 6:11), it is thrilling to watch how that once formidable force shrinks in size or disappears.
