Francis Frangipane
Here's
the scene: You are in a battle against sickness, oppression or some
similar struggle. You seek God, and in some way, the grace of God
touches your life. Your victory may have come through a word or prayer
or some other encouragement, but you absolutely know the Lord has
delivered you. Using the five smooth stones of divine grace, you
defeated your Goliath.
But
then, a few weeks or months or perhaps years later, all the old
symptoms suddenly return with a vengeance. If you were struggling with
an illness, it manifests itself now worse than ever; if your battle was
regarding a relationship, it seems as though all progress has been lost
and you are back to square one.
Have
you ever been there? These negative experiences can drain the faith
from your heart. You lose the anticipation and power of faith, and a
spiritual paralysis immobilizes your soul. You may still attend church,
but your faith is unresponsive. When others testify of deliverance, you
worry secretly that they, too, will "lose their healing."
For many, the result is one of faith-shaking disillusionment. Scripture says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12).
This "heartsickness" is a spiritual disease that can cripple your walk
with God. Remember, faith is the substance of the things you hope for;
if you lose hope, your faith becomes hollow. How can you trust God when
it seems as though He let you down? You wonder: Did I lose my
breakthrough, or was I only deceiving myself and never really had it?
Dear
one, it is very possible that what you are experiencing is not a loss
of God's blessing but an entirely new spiritual battle. This new war is a
very clever and effective deception that Satan uses to try and worm his
way back into the lives of those delivered by God.
I
had been praying about this very thing, this recurring battle, when the
Holy Spirit spoke to my heart: Goliath had a brother. I was immediately
reminded of David's war against the Philistine giant. We all know that
David became a great hero by trusting God and defeating Goliath.
However, things changed as we see in 2 Samuel 21,
"Now
when the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David went down and
his servants with him; and as they fought against the Philistines,
David became weary. Then Ishbi-benob, who was among the descendants of
the giant . . . intended to kill David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah
helped him, and struck the Philistine and killed him." (vv. 15-17).
Years after David became king he had to face other giants. In fact, 1 Chronicles 20:5 reveals that at least one of those warring against David was "the brother of Goliath" and four were his children (see 2 Sam. 21:22).
We can imagine that these giants, being Goliath's kin, looked like
Goliath, boasted like him, dressed like him and probably even smelled
like him. The Scripture says while fighting one of the descendants of
Goliath that "David became weary."
The Bible is silent as to what might have been going through the king's
mind as he battled these giants. Perhaps he wondered, I thought I
killed Goliath. What is he doing back? But Goliath had not come back; he
was dead! David was actually fighting the giant's kin. It just looked
like the same battle!
Likewise,
you also have had many successful victories. Just because the current
giant you are facing looks like one you defeated in the past, do not buy
the lie that you never really won the first battle! By the strength of
God's grace, you trusted the Almighty and conquered your Goliath. The
first giant is dead. Satan is masquerading as your former enemy so he
can slip past your faith and regain entrance into your life. Resist him.
Do not accept the lie that you were never delivered. Stand in faith
(see Eph. 6). Faith is the victory that overcomes the world (see 1 John 5:4).
The living God who helped you conquer Goliath will empower you to overcome his brother as well.
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