And then I had a picture.

The giant is dead.

Lying on the ground slain, me standing on his enormous belly, rejoicing in the victory and yet I'm scared.

Terrified that he isn't really dead. That at some unsuspecting moment a giant hand will grab my ankle, his hands and body engulfing mine with ease, crushing.

Either side there are demons pushing and pulling the arms and legs, jerking it so as to startle me, to make my jump and panic as though my fears were true, I'm gonna die

and yet

The giant

is dead.

There are things that we deal with, in the past, in the present, issues that have defined us, named us and that have become background noise in the interference of our minds. These issues are not the ones we are currently sinning in, nor those that we are battling and warring through. These are the ones we were delivered of, forgiven of, processed through and come through the other side. These are the things that were a part of us for so long but in His mercy the Lord restored, healed, dealt with and loved us out of. These are our giants that now lay slain below us, a goliath slain by the stone of a boy with a great big God behind him.

And yet there are times when the body jerks, when the anxiety returns or the wobbles come. That has been my realisation as i chewed over this picture, processing it, realising the great truth that the giant is dead, that I am not in imminent threat of death and suffocation, that what was done is done and will always be done because the one who authored all, who closes and opens doors with definitive finality, killed the giant dead. However, as I wobble and jump still, I start to wonder….

…what am I still doing standing on the giant?

Rob Bell wonderfully puts it when he explains that being 'out of the box' is great but the only problem is that that phrase is flawed, by its very nature that phrase suggests that the box still defines you, who you are and where you are. In the same way, standing victorious over a dead giant is amazingly great, a glorious victory, but whilst still standing on him, body twitching and being able to be shaken, my stability, my groundedness, my assurance is still determined IN RELATION TO the giant. My world is still defined by the giant, dead or alive.

And the I was reminded of a story that was beginning to echo through mine…

50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck down the Philistine and slew him. But no sword was in David's hand 51So he ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their mighty champion was dead, they fled.

57When David returned from killing Goliath the Philistine, Abner brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.

4And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, even his sword, his bow, and his girdle. 5And David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he prospered and behaved himself wisely; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was satisfactory both to the people and to Saul's servants.

He also killed the giant

He also stood on the giant

But

then he cut off the giants head

Took it as testimony

and then LEFT IT THERE

and walked into favour, blessing, provision and his rightful, royal position.

He did not remain in the victorious place standing over a dead thing and allowing that to forever define him

but he allowed that victory to be a testimony to what God had done

and be a stepping stone to POSITION him to where he was meant to be and was created for.

Does Goliath get mentioned again?

YUP but only once

1 samuel 21

David is now running for his life, he is in a totally different situation, years have past and now a prophet hands him the sword of the one he killed that was the greatest sword there was, to use to protect himself.

It is not the giant he is ever defined by again, but that experience and victory so positions him in the right place, that he even comes to a point where he is able to redeem and wield the very same sword that once threatened his life, to walk in an authority over the very thing that should have taken him out. But even then, the giant, his name, his grave, his descendants, any fear or reputation attached to him…none of it is mentioned. His sword was a useful one for a season so is used,

but the giant is dead.

Time to find a way to cut off its head

step off its stomach

and walk into the God-ordained position that victory has created.