“… For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

I Samuel 17:26 NKJV

Hope is a word that has been highlighted to me all month. If I saw it in a verse, which has been often, I would end up circling it. It has become like a God-wink at this point. And for the better part of the month, I was hopeful. But once again, thoughts and feelings taunted me that caused hope to recoil. A voice rises up against what I know to be true, and more specifically, true about God’s character and plan for me. There is a situation in my life that hope is a struggle in; the defeats far exceed the victories that the belief it could be or will be any different is challenging.

I’m sure we all have something like that in our lives. The place where hope has been deferred and our hearts are made sick. Perhaps you’ve even had promises spoken over this unmet desire but time (and maybe even circumstances) has become a thief: of joy, of assurance, of hope — the expectation.

I get it. I really do. And as I was talking with the Lord about the hopelessness I feel regarding my particular situation, I commented on how I didn’t feel like David facing Goliath because I was taunted by this struggle, by these thoughts and feelings. It was intimidating me in fear and I was not confident I was facing it or even could face it in faith. So the Lord prompted me to read the story of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Y’all…it is so good!

What encouraged me most was that David had a confident expectation (hope) that the God who had given him victory in the past would do so again. As he explains to Saul that he had fought lions and bears as a shepherd, he is certain that God would do the same for this giant. It was no match for his God!

“Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”…”

I Samuel 17:37 NKJV

And I had to ask myself:

what have Jesus and I battled and prevailed at that once upon a time victory [in these things] seemed impossible?

This hope deferred is a) not hope denied and b) not something that will defy God, especially if He has spoken into the situation. It may feel like a giant at times but we can confidently expect God to come through; bring it down, cause it to fall face first to the ground, with the Rock our hope is in — Jesus Christ! He will have its head. If He conquered death, then situations or circumstances, disappointments, doubts, needs, troubles, heartbreaks, fears, naysayers — whatever we face, whatever tells us “this is impossible” — is nothing to Him. And I know that in the midst of the struggle, it’s hard to remember; hope is hard to cling to, but we have to remember that God will not be defied and to call to mind those battles He has won. Perhaps we should even speak to the things that seem to come against our hope as David did regarding Goliath:

“who is this uncircumcised philistine?”

Because whatever it is, is not mightier than our God — the living God!

After David defeated Goliath, he kept Goliath’s armor in his tent. It was a trophy so to speak, a reminder of the victory. It was in his stock to continually remind him that nothing was impossible with God! We have things to do the same with from past victories and whatever the situation we are now facing, there’s an armor we will keep when the battle is won. It WILL be won in Jesus’ name!

May your hope, your confident expectation in Jesus, be encouraged. May you remember past victories. And may you remember that the God we serve is not a God that is defied. Nothing is too hard and nothing is a match against our God’s power — no matter how big and intimidating it may seem.

“This HOPE we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,”

Hebrews 6:19 NKJV

“Let us hold fast the confession of our HOPE without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

Hebrews 10:23 NKJV

“Now faith is the substance of things HOPED for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1 NKJV