Topic: Refuse to be fearful [Jentezen Franklin Ministry Devotional 25 May 2021]

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Refuse to be fearful

“Do not look at his appearance or…physical stature.” 1Sa 16:7 NKJV

We pride ourselves on our ability to judge people and situations based on appearance—and lots of time we’re wrong. Goliath issued the same challenge to Israel for forty days: “Send me your best fighting man, and I’ll kill him. I’m the champion. I’m the greatest.” That kind of fear-based thinking applies to every giant you encounter in life. Chuck Swindoll writes: “Fear and worry…don’t come just once; they come morning and evening, day after day, relentlessly trying to intimidate. They come in the form of a person, a pressure…a worry…fear that hammers on your heart…day in and day out, yelling across the ravine in your own personal valley. Few things are more persistent and intimidating than our fears and worries…especially when we face them in our own strength.” When picking Israel’s next king, God told the prophet Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or…physical stature.…For the Lord does not see as man sees;…man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (v. 7 NKJV). As human beings, we look at what’s on the outside and form opinions based on what we see. Goliath was a giant with a booming voice and lots of bravado—three traits designed to instill fear into the bravest heart. But God was neither impressed nor intimidated by him. And what’s more, He gave David the ability to see Goliath through His eyes. Fears are like babies; the more you nurse them, the bigger they grow. Once you start seeing the giants in your life from God’s perspective, they lose their power to immobilize and intimidate you. So refuse to be fearful.