Giants

    

I recently watched the movie, “Facing the Giants”. It is a story about a high school football coach who has never led a winning season. The movie is loosely based on the Biblical story of David and Goliath, and is chockfull of “giants”, like underemployment, infertility, handicaps, and unbeatable opponents. The movie’s tagline is: NEVER GIVE UP. NEVER BACK DOWN. NEVER LOSE FAITH. In the movie, the coach is challenged to trust in the power of faith and discovers the strength to persevere through his insurmountable crises, and encourages his team members to do the same.

Like the coach and his team, you might be facing some seemingly undefeatable giants in your life. Giants are real or perceived obstacles that seem larger or more powerful than usual. Giants can be persons, events, situations, or circumstances. Facing a giant can make you feel small, weak, and vulnerable. Facing a giant can cause fear and doubt. You can conquer the giants in your life when you turn opposition into opportunity, fear into faith, doubt into determination, and a stone into a weapon.

Turn opposition into opportunity. Crisis is a unique combination of danger and opportunity. Facing your giants does not come without risk, but there is always an opportunity for change and growth. When you turn opposition into opportunity and face your giants, you create a combination of favorable circumstances and a chance for progress or advancement that you would not otherwise have. When you turn opposition into opportunity, you have a chance to overcome your giants and experience victory. If you forgo opportunity, your giants will win by default. In the midst of a crisis, when you find yourself confronted by giants, take the risk and convert opposition to opportunity.

Turn fear into faith. Fear is false evidence appearing real. When faced with giants, you can convince yourself that something is true when it really isn’t. Fear of giants leads to negative self-talk and pessimistic thinking. It’s cliché, but true: Fear is the opposite of faith. You really cannot walk in fear and faith simultaneously. You have to forgo one for the other. Faith can cause you to view your giants from a different perspective. If you size your giants up against God, they all seem small and inconsequential. With faith in God, impossible situations go from implausible to plausible. Faith replaces fear with courage. With God, all things are possible, even having the audacity to defeat the giants in your life.

Turn doubt into determination. Fear causes doubt. When you fear your giants, you start to doubt your skills, abilities, talents, and intellect. You can lose your motivation to do your best and believe the best. Doubt can shut you down and foster a defeatist attitude. The more you doubt, the less you do. When you adjust your attitude, you affect your ability to do more. Your outlook determines your outcome. Trade doubt for determination and you will be more effective in facing and defeating your giants.

Turn a stone into a weapon. In the Biblical account of the battle between David and Goliath, David, who is a man of small stature, defeats the giant Goliath with a mere slingshot and stone. When you use a stone as a weapon, figuratively speaking, you do two things: (1) You use what you have on hand to confront and conquer your giant; and (2) You make the greatest use of something small to defeat your giant. In the movie, “Facing Your Giants”, the coach’s team was facing a team of undefeated champions. Because the team was outnumbered and outsized by the champions, the team had to use brains over brawn to win the game. The football team used strategy. David used his skills with a sling to defeat his giant. As with the football team and David, God will use the unique talents and skills that He has placed in you to help you successfully confront and conquer your giants. When faced with your giants, use creativity and resourcefulness to become a victor instead of a victim.

 

Jacinta M. Gray,

The Couch Coach