Slaying Giants
It was a balmy Florida night in August. I was alone in pitch black, spider infested woods. These were not ordinary spiders, they were the size of my hand, and they were venomous. My clothes were drenched in sweat, and I knew my time of battle was nearing. It was just me and the beast that could kill me. I knew that there was a mammoth 300 pound hog in the area. This hog had been popping up on our cameras for weeks. He had tusks like daggers. He was the king of those woods. I slipped in my earphones and worship music filled my ears. It was time to slay a giant (Hogzilla). A single shot echoed throughout the woods. After three hours in the dangerous, hot, pitch black woods... Hogzilla's reign was over!
How many opportunities in life do we have to slay a giant? Only a few; yet, we face giants every single day. We face them at work, in school, and in the pursuit of our life's dreams. These giants are also dangerous, we have to put everything on the line, and they make us dig deep to come out on top. These challenges come with great rewards, and let us discover what we are truly capable of doing with God working beside us.
Killing giants in our lives require certain characteristics - patience, hard work, faith, and a spirit of worship. When I was in the woods that steamy night, I knew that I had to be patient - I could not move or make a noise. I had to wait for the perfect time and the perfect shot. Weeks of preparation were all culminating in one split second action. Our greatest challenges may not have a split second solution, but they will always require the patience to sit still, not move, and do what we must in order to succeed.
To slay beasts, we also need hard work and faith. It was a long and grueling day, and I was barely able to keep my eyes open that night. I had to keep up my faith that my hog would show up, and that we would do battle that very night. I put so much effort into that night; I could not allow myself to give up. I was driven by the hope that I would slay the beast, and in the end my thoughts came to fruition. We must keep our thoughts focused on the objective and stay positive - only then will our goals become reality.
Finally, to slay Hogzilla, I had to keep an attitude of worship. Worshiping God is the best thing a man can possibly do in the face of adversity. God can bring us through anything, regardless of how impossible it seems to our finite little minds. That night in the woods, I put worship music on. Conventional wisdom says that I would not be able to hear the Hog if it showed up. But I was banking that by worshiping, God would show up, and when God shows up, anything can happen.