Faith over Fear

 

Stop Ignoring the Giant: How Faith Defeats Fear

Here's something we've all been told at some point: just ignore it, and it'll go away. Whether it was a bully on the playground or a problem we didn't want to deal with, that advice sounds reasonable. But most of the time, it simply isn't true. Ignored problems don't disappear. They just get louder.

Israel learned that the hard way.

Forty Years Later, the Giants Were Still There

When we open the book of Joshua, forty years have passed since a generation of Israelites stood at the edge of the Promised Land, saw the giants waiting for them, and turned back in fear. An entire generation lived and died in the wilderness. And when the new generation finally arrived at the Jordan River, ready to enter what God had promised — the giants were still there, waiting.

They'd spent decades avoiding what eventually still had to be faced.

That's the thing about giants. They don't retire while you're not looking.

As I kicked off our new series, Slaying Giants, I wanted us to sit with that reality for a moment. Because many of us have our own giants — fears, obstacles, and challenges we've been hoping would quietly disappear. And God's invitation to us is the same one He gave Joshua: now, therefore, arise.

The River Was the First Giant

When God speaks to Joshua in Joshua 1, His instructions are surprisingly simple:

"Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them... Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you." — Joshua 1:2–3

No ten-step strategy. No "wait until conditions improve." Just: get up and cross.

The problem? The Jordan River was at flood stage. We learn in Joshua 3:15 that "the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest" — and it was harvest time. This wasn't a peaceful creek. It was a dangerous, swollen, overflowing river standing between Joshua and everything God had promised.

And here's what I think that river represents for many of us: fear. Because fear works a lot like a flooded river. One thought catches on another, and another, and before long you're not making decisions anymore — you're just being carried by the current of your anxiety, ending up somewhere you never intended to go.

The aim of fear is paralysis. Fear wants you frozen on the bank, calculating every reason not to cross. And a paralyzed Joshua never gets to Jericho. He just stands at the edge of everything God promised and never takes a step.

Fear Is Often Right — But It's Almost Always Wrong About God

Here's something I said on Sunday that might have surprised you: fear is often right. At least partially.

Go back to Numbers 13. The ten spies who came back with a bad report

weren't lying. The cities were fortified. The people were powerful. There were giants in the land. They didn't have a fact problem — they had a perspective problem. They measured the giants against themselves and saw grasshoppers. Joshua and Caleb measured the giants against God.

So let me say it plainly: faith is not pretending the giant is smaller than it is. Faith is refusing to pretend that God is smaller than He is.

Fear says, you're not strong enough — and sometimes that's true. Fear says, you could fail — and yes, you could. But fear doesn't stop at a possibility. It turns a possibility into a command. You're not strong enough, therefore don't go. You don't have enough, therefore don't give. You could fail, therefore don't try.

Fear is a good servant, but a terrible lord. It can give you information, but it should never be given authority over your obedience.

Three Ways to Slay Fear

God doesn't just tell Joshua not to be afraid. He tells him what to do instead. And He repeats it so many times it's hard to miss — in verses 6, 7, 9, and 18: "Be strong and courageous."

Why does God keep saying it? Because fear has a way of making us forget what God has already said. So here are three practices I want to leave with you:

1. Remember who is with you. God's promise to Joshua was personal: "Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you" (Joshua 1:5). Fear is capable of calculating what you are capable of. God wants you calculating what He is capable of.

2. Rehearse what God has said. God instructed Joshua: "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night" (Joshua 1:8). The Hebrew word for meditate here — hagah — means to mutter, to ponder, to rehearse. Fear already knows how to do this. Fear will replay your worst-case scenario on a loop all day long until you've memorized your giant and forgotten your God. The answer is to rehearse Scripture back at it.

When fear says, you can't, God's Word says: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

When fear says, stay safe, God's Word says: "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7).

When fear says, you're too small, God's Word says: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

3. Regroup often. Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom." Sometimes I fill my hammer by memorizing God's Word on my own. And sometimes, somebody who loves me picks it up right alongside me and says, let me swing that with you. You were never meant to face your giants alone.

The Giant in Front of Us

I want to be honest with you — I'm not preaching this from a place of having it all figured out. As we've been talking about adding a second service to make more room for people in our community, I've heard every argument fear has to offer. What if we don't have enough people? What if we don't have enough volunteers? What if we mess up what we already have?

The sermon I preached to you on Sunday is the one I've been preaching to myself all week.

But here's what I keep coming back to: I see families in this community who don't know who God is. My heart breaks for them. And the only way they're going to find out is if we take ownership of that — if we make room, learn to invite, and show up as people whose lives have genuinely been changed by Jesus.

That's the vision. That's the giant in front of us. And the only way we slay it is together, and with God's help.

So don't face your giants alone. If you're not in a small group, that's your next step. Find one that fits your schedule and get connected — because we need people in our lives who will pick up the hammer alongside us.

And if you're reading this and you've never taken that first step of saying yes to Jesus, I'd love to talk with you. That conversation can change everything.

---

If this message resonated with you, share it with someone who's standing at the edge of their own river right now. And if you missed Sunday's service, you can watch the full sermon on our website or YouTube channel.

---

Hashtags: #SlayingGiants #BeStrongAndCourageous #FaithOverFear #JoshuaChapterOne #SundaySermon