"Do the Hard Thing!"

"Do the hard thing!" These were the words I kept hearing the Lord speak to me for months. But, for a time, I avoided and ran from the giant or "hard thing" that was standing in my path. Thankfully, I surrendered to God's voice and began the process of facing the giant that had intimidated me. The moment I chose to do the hard thing, I began to feel and experience His grace in every aspect of the journey forward.

I feel many are facing similar giants in their path. Dread, intimidation, and the flaunting of past trauma are some of the enemy's favorite methods to keep us from moving forward into all the Father has in store for us.

Some have felt like they are in cages made with bars of fear from this past season. I hear God say, "It is a new day! It is a day to say 'NO!' to the spirit of fear and 'YES!' to power, love, and a sound mind. I am releasing the GRACE KEYS in this season that will unlock your cage of fear. You will emerge stronger and with EMPOWERED WINGS that lift and carry you through the difficulty.

Will you not trust in Me? It is a time to trust that I have prepared you for the battle you face. I have made sure that you are ready to use the tools and weapons that will defeat the enemy. Your former season has been a time of preparation. Just as David was prepared in his role as a humble shepherd, so you have been prepared, too."

"But David said to Saul, 'Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.'" I Sam 17:34-37

Supernaturally Empowered Stones

David didn't find the stones for his sling until he had made his decision to face and fight Goliath. God will give you your necessary stones as you resolutely move forward to face your giant. We often want to see what the battle will look like for us, but God usually does not reveal His empowering grace until we make that first step forward. Your stones may be the battle strategies, plans, and specific weapons you will need to confront your giant. But, your stones will also contain promises and God's rhema words for your situation. Your stones are not ordinary, but supernaturally empowered by God as He releases His grace upon them.

Two days before I was to face my own giant, God spoke to me through these two passages:

"You have not given me into the hands of the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place." Psalm 31:8

"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." Psalm 18:19

I felt God highlight and then breathe His life over these scriptures for me concerning the situation I faced. I wrote the words on index cards and placed them in my bag so that I could meditate on them and hide them in my heart. These words would become powerful stones for me as I placed them in my sling to confront the familiar spirits of fear, dread, and intimidation. The attacks would surely come to try and shift my focus away from the reality that I am loved, protected, and always and forever in God's hands. But, armed with the stones that God had given me, I faced my giant and did so without fear.

God is Opening Up New Territory on the Other Side of Your Giant

David had no way of knowing what would wait for him on the other side of his standoff with Goliath. With a momentum based in the confidence He carried in his God, David literally ran toward the battle line to meet the unruly giant. Using one of his stones, David slew the giant, then taking the giant's own sword, he cut off the giant's head. Though gruesome to us now, in Bible times, returning with the head of your enemy was clearly the march of a victorious overcomer. The severed head was an obvious indicator that the enemy had no more life or power to overcome or taunt it's victims.

There is power in acknowledging that your enemy no longer has power to defeat you. You may ask God for a special way to commemorate your victory. These moments go into your faith arsenal that can be drawn on for future battles. Your memorial stones of victory become part of your powerful overcoming testimony that has an ongoing ripple effect.

David received recognition from the battle he fought with Goliath and then immediate promotion to remain with King Saul and not return to his family. David had stepped into new territory. The doors to destiny had been thrown wide open for David and all because he chose to confront the giant, Goliath.

I believe God is opening up new territory on the other side of your giant, too. Your giant may be the thing standing between you and the new territory God has waiting for you. I release to you overcoming strength to turn and face those things that have taunted and intimidated you. As you choose to lean into God's grace and strength, you will be empowered with all you need to do the hard thing, and then see the salvation of your God.