Prophetic thought: let the world not overwhelm or bully you

We all know the story of David and Goliath. We know what happened on the day when David slew the giant. And yes, there are many important lessons to be learned, but one of them the Lord has placed on my heart is that the world or even the devil, represented in this case by the Goliath is never meant to bully or overwhelm the believer of Christ. Never. We are not called to submit. To flee. To surrender. Or to make excuses for the truth, to apologise, or to bow the knee to any man or system. Just look at the great Reformers like Martin Luther and Jan Hus – they refused to recant, and as the apostle Paul continued to praise and rejoice in God.

In 1 Samuel 17 we read “8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Take note of verse 11. Saul, as the king of Israel, allowed himself to be bullied by the Philistine. He allowed Goliath to dictate his actions, to determine his course of action, and he called the shots. We read in verse 16 how the ‘Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.’ Yes for 40 days Saul was left paralysed. He didn’t take any action against this Philistine! He was a leader as we know we was more interested in his reputation and stature, instead of always submitting and obeying God. A follower of Christ will never be victorious when led by the dictates of the flesh (Romans 8).

This of course all changed when David, even as a young boy yet full of God in his heart, arrived on the scene. Oh yes, Goliath mocked David for being young and even threatened to give his flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. And then we read: “45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.” The rest is all history.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have we become like Saul, who allowed himself to be bullied and to be left spiritually paralysed by a Philistine, or are we like David who stood his ground because he knew he served the Great I Am? Are we like Saul who allows this world to mock God, even though the Word says God shall not be mocked (Galatians 6:7). Or are we standing with God, and His Truth, and laughing at those who think they can mock God and His servants? Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way what happens when you mock God. So did those living in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the Pharaoh of Egypt. Why have we become such a fearful people as servants of God in this world? Why have we allowed ourselves to be bullied, to be tormented, and why have we allowed this world to dictate our course of action? Is it because of fear? Have we forgotten who the God is whom we serve? Why do we allow this world to mock our faith and the everlasting glory of God?

In Isaiah 8 we read: 12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their [j]threats, nor be troubled. 13 The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow; Let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” The Amplified puts it as follows: “And you are not to fear what they fear nor be in dread of it.” As a church, we are not called to walk in fear, for we have not been given a spirit of fear but of a sound mind, of love and power! Yet it seems we have become a people of God full of fear like Saul, who has allowed the world and even the devil to call the shots! We have become spiritually paralyzed, unlike David who was so full of faith and boldness that he reminded Goliath of who God is. Maybe we need to remind ourselves now and then.

In Acts 2 we read “42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” Oh yes, the disciples after Pentecost were not fearful of the world, but they walked in the reverence and awe of God. They were filled by the power of the Spirit of God and were ready like Paul to declare the Gospel in such glorious power and not just by eloquent speeches or words. And such fear of God and such trust and faith dictated their path, their course of action and how they acted. They served and obey God rather than man! In Acts 5 we read the story of Ananias and Sapphira, and how they lied to the Spirit of God. In ended in swift judgment by God, and we read in verse 11 how “great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”

Is it the church is so full of fear for the world, for its bullies and even the devil because we are no longer fearing the Almighty God? Fearing the Lord is a common concept in the Bible, it is not something negative. According to Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” In Acts 2:43 the term fear is used (normally translated “awe”) to describe the reaction of the people on the day of Pentecost.

Acts 9:31 explains that the church, which has now expanded from Jerusalem to all Judea and Samaria, was living “in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.” In Acts 19 the sons of Sceva attempted to perform miracles in the name of Jesus and were beaten by a demon-possessed man. In response, fear came upon the people and the name of the Lord was exalted.

In the case of Saul, he feared Goliath instead of the giant fearing God! And this is the same scenario in the church today. Is it because the Church is no longer radically declaring the truth of God or believing in the almighty power of God? After all, we are supposed to be the carriers of His Glory, of His Presence, His Light and be followers of the hope of glory. Yet it seems we are acting completely the opposite, like Saul. Have we submitted to dread and fear, making excuses of our faith, and allowing the world to bully us into submission? Where are the David’s in the church, and the Daniel’s and the Joshua’s? Are we a church of courage or are broken by carnal and unholy fear?

Ephesians 2:6 says “and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:37 declares “yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” It is written in “1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” As children of God, no weapon forged against us shall prosper! Why then do we fear? Of the work of the devil we read in “Colossians 2:15: Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Glory to God. We have nothing to fear! We are victorious for we serve a victorious King. So dread not. Be not bullied.

In Matthew 8 we read “23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Yes, it is surprising that these fishermen reacted so fearfully to the storm. Still today, believers react in fear and dread to all kinds of storms in this world. Yet Philippians 4 declares “6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Indeed, have we also like these disciples become annoyed or even anxious that God is sleeping and ignoring the situation that has "swamped" us and threatens to drown us? It says in “Psalm 121:4: Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 says: “9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” Why then do we fear the storms? Is God not good and just? For God sees all, knows all and He does hear us. Why then are we so full of dread? Jesus reprimanded His disciples for being of little faith. Are we also of little faith, like Saul, and like those disciples? Or are we courageous like David?

In Acts 4 the disciples prayed for boldness, saying “24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’ The disciples of Christ were full of faith in those days. They never yielded or submitted to the demands of the world. They did not allow themselves to be bullied. They prayed unto God and trusted in God. And because of their conviction, we read: “31 And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”

How we need boldness again in the church! Real boldness. Real faith. Real courage. A true conviction of God almighty abiding in us. For then we shall not fear or dread what the world dreads or fears. We will not be pushed back by the Goliath’s. We shall allow God to dictate our path, our course of action, our behaviour and the words we speak. We need to stop fearing the world and start fearing God and trusting in Him who shook Egypt and every other demonic power. For the gates of hell shall not prevail against the church!