Last Monday night I, along with millions of others, watched college football's BCS National Championship Game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. Before the kick-off, TCU was described as a Cinderella team that had beaten mighty Michigan after running a near-perfect gauntlet to a 12-1 regular season. Quarterback Max Duggan was a finalist for the coveted Heisman Trophy. Georgia, as the defending champion, was big, fierce, and back for a chance to have back-to-back championships, but a defeat seemed possible . . . until the game started.
TCU managed to score one touchdown, but they never led at any point in the game. The final result was the worst margin of defeat in any college bowl game EVER.
When you have a few moments, reread 1 Samuel chapter 17, which is the whole story of David going against Goliath. In that case, Goliath stood in arrogant opposition to the army of Israel, but David had God on his side, and that made ALL the difference. David flung a stone in the air. That stone hit Goliath at the precise point on his forehand with the precise amount of force needed to cause him to fall face down on the ground. David ran to Goliath and finished the job with Goliath's own sword. The Philistine army turned and ran for their lives. The Israelite army won a major battle.
The University of Georgia football team was formidable, but the players weren't anti-God giants. And TCU has Christian in its name, but that doesn't mean God gave those players special powers to beat the Bulldogs. So, my attempt at an analogy breaks down rather quickly.
However, you and I have faced giants during the course of our lives, and sometimes those giants have won. I've had friends who fought HARD against cancer in their bodies but still died. I've known people who have worked long, grueling hours but still lost their businesses and their life savings. Just yesterday, I saw on the news that people's homes were destroyed and six lives were lost in Alabama because of a powerful tornado.
So, yes, sometimes these "Goliaths" or Big Things win.
That's when we have to remember that God is BIGGER than any earthly Goliath. He created everything. He rules over everything. He is all-powerful, all-knowing, and always present.
My children learned a song (and the accompanying hand motions) when they were very young. "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do. The mountains are His, the rivers are His, the skies are His handiwork, too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there's nothing my God cannot do . . . for you!"
Let's focus today on the greatness of God. HE WILL NOT BE DEFEATED. (Read the last chapters in the Book of Revelation for confirmation). And let's pray for those facing Goliaths right now.
1 Chronicles 29:11 -- "Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."
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