Guidelines For Living

Guest (Male): Take a break from your busy schedule and join Harold Sala for Guidelines For Living.

Harold Sala: When you are only 5'3" and someone who is 6'5" towers over you, you quickly learn what intimidation is, especially when the giant leans over you and threatens you. We'd much prefer enemies about our size giving us an equal chance. But, of course, life isn't always fair. Sometimes the enemies of life are no less foreboding than the giants whose strength and height makes us feel small, and they are certainly no less intimidating.

When Joshua and Caleb, along with the other ten, went into the promised land to spy it out, they came back saying, "There are giants in the land, descendants of Anak." Ten of them wanted to quit right on the spot. It would have been better to have stayed in Egypt, they said. But two of them, Joshua and Caleb, said, "It's true, there are giants in the land, but God will surely give it to us."

In assessing the situation, Joshua made a fascinating statement. He said, "Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread. Their protection is departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them." The enemies, he said, are bread for us. The word he used was generally used for wheat or grain which had been ground and made into a loaf. The same word was used for the showbread in the Tabernacle.

He is really saying that your bread is not only what you grind, but the giants whom God will subdue which, like the bread you put on your table, is going to produce growth in your personal life. Yes, you would prefer that you don't have to take on the giants. But remember, without bread, you die. And without taking on a few giants in your life, you will never know that God is bigger than any giant you will ever face. Giants show you the limitations which beset you, so you will know that God, not your ingenuity or cleverness, took out the giant.

The measure of your fear also reveals the strength or the weakness of your faith. Too often we never lift our eyes above the giants to the strength of God above us. "They are bread for you," says Joshua. An unknown author wrote, "Every time you meet a difficulty, every time you find yourself in an impossible situation, ask yourself this question: Am I going to starve here or am I going to eat?

If you are relying on the Lord for victory and allow His overcoming life to be manifest in you, you will find fresh nourishment and increased vitality, and you will be fed once again. Bear in mind that people who do not eat well cannot grow into maturity. Our bread is not only the word of God, our meat is not only to do His will, our bread is also the Anakim, the giants, the difficulties in our way."

So what happens when you take a giant or see a giant looming in your pathway? Smile and say, "Here comes my bread," and thank God that the giant can be subdued. A closing thought: Most contemporary modern translations leave out the phrase calling the giants bread, but that's exactly what Joshua said. And knowing that God allowed the giant to be in your path so you might subdue it and thus grow from the experience makes the whole ordeal less frightening. Joshua's advice is good for us today. Don't rebel against God, don't fear the giant, but like David, confront him in the name of the Lord, and your giant will be bread for your soul, bread indeed.

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