You Are Not Given a Spirit of FearSample

Day 2: Giant? No problem

God's anointing is on you, just like we see it was on David. 1 Samuel 17 tells us that when David comes before the prophet Samuel, the Lord says, “This is the one,” but David wasn’t even called to the anointing in the first place. Samuel had to ask for him. The one who wasn’t even called by his father or brothers is exactly the one who is called and anointed by God, and that anointing, it isn’t nothing.

Just look at what happens after that. We don’t know if it's a few weeks later or maybe just a few days, but we learn about this war with the Philistines, and this giant that the Philistines have with them, Goliath.

For 40 days, that giant does his very best to intimidate the children of Israel, but that’s when Jesse sends David down to the camp with food for his brothers. When David hears Goliath yelling and intimidating and defying the armies of Israel and he sees that these men are dreadfully afraid, he gets angry.

Now, this is where we can begin to see the effect of that anointing. Just a few days ago, David was just a shepherd boy, but now, he’s been anointed by Samuel, by the Lord, and he speaks in the boldness of his anointing, and he challenges the giant.

Challenges to the Anointing

But things aren’t easy for David just because he is anointed. He has to overcome so much. On the very day of his anointing, when Samuel comes to their little town of Bethlehem, it’s a huge thing that has happened for their family, and Jesse could have called David for that special experience, but he didn't.

When David gets to the camp, he has to overcome his older brother, Eliab saying to him, “Why have you come down to this battle? You are just prideful and insolent. You just want to be here.”

When David goes before Saul, the king, Saul even says, “You're not even able to do this.” He tries to discourage David and put armor on him that he can't wear.

When David comes face-to-face with his enemy, the giant, Goliath also puts him down and tells him, “Yeah, you come to me, and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beast of the field.”

But through it all David says, “Yes, I can do this. I defeated the lion. I already defeated a bear, and I can defeat this giant,” because it doesn’t matter what people think compared to God’s calling on your life. David looks at Goliath and says, “No, I have the Lord with me, and I will defeat you.”

We can say that to fear, too. We can say, “Fear, you just shut up right now. You're not even allowed to speak another word to me. This day, fear, you will bow.”

Maybe fear has tried to say to you, “Well, you're not so and so,” or “You don't look like so and so,” or “You can't do what other people do,” or “You’re not wealthy,” or all these other terrible things that our minds think sometimes to put us down. But God chose you. God chose David, even though everyone was trying to put him down, and God chose you.

It doesn't matter what the other people are thinking or saying. God chose you to carry His power and His name. He chose you to make a difference in your family or at your job or at your school. You're anointed to take down and overcome the spirit of fear.

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever been excluded or put down by other people in your life? How did that affect your ability to walk in God’s calling on your life?
2. Try to recall a time where you overcame the voice of fear. What helped you fight back? How did knowing or not knowing about your anointing affect your fight?