I went to a conference for entrepreneurs called The Thing, in Nashville and I took a lot of notes. The forthcoming posts are my way of unpacking these notes and give insight to the pivot I feel is coming.
Terry Weaver, the founder of The Thing, spoke first and he said says “You have to talk
about your Giants and why they need to be defeated”
We all have giants to be defeated and it begins with naming your giant.
Name your giant
I only know two giants by name, Andre and Goliath. The former a WWE hall of fame wrestler and the latter, a threat that kept Israel frozen in fear.
The Bible gives this giant a name, Goliath. David, the shepherd boy comes upon the battle and hears Goliath taunt and threaten Israel and David was offended. David was offended and called Goliath a disgrace and defier of the God of Israel.
David called this Giant what he was. He was the fly in the ointment, the barrier to Israel’s success and he must be defeated.
What do you call your giant? What is their name? Is it poverty? Is it racism? Is it cancer? Yes, these giants all have proper names, but you see them differently. You see the threat they have to society, the fear they cause, the barrier they represent and you are offended by its existence.You’re offended by them.
Take time to name your Giant, the big bad you want to spend your life trying to defeat and then define it further, so you can get the clarity you need slay it.
Define your giant
The writer of I Samuel, where the story of David and Goliath are told, goes into some detail about this Giant,
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
Later on, Saul warns David with an ominous Goliath back story.
Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”
What is it about YOUR giant, in particular, that deserves your attention? Your solution?
What is its threat level to you, to your family, to society or the world?
What does your giant keep from moving forward? Ideas? Progress?
How many different solutions can you come up with to take this Giant down?
Physical
Political
Educational
Biblical
Mental
Giants can be physical giants like government bureaucracy or they can be emotional giants like trauma, fear, laziness or our past.
Defining your giant helps you defeat your giant.
Run at your Giant
I’m not an expert Giant Slayer I’m not an expert at anything, really. I don’t have it all
together. I’m still dealing with my Giants and I have to Name them and Define them, but
Naming and defining must result in slaying otherwise your giant wins if he can keep you from acting on what you know.
David, ran at his Giant. I’m not saying you have to run right at your giant, like David did, but a giant deserves a quick and aggressive response because the threat is real.
Your giant will keep coming out, screaming threats and insulting your convictions until you deal with them.
David told his Giant what he was going to do, 1) I’m going to kill you 2) I’m going to cut off your head 3) I’m going led the buzzard feed on you
Tell your giant what’s going to happen, then do it.
David did not slay the giant for his own glory, he did it so that God’s name would be feared and respected.
Look to your reward
David did not slay this giant for free. He heard there was a reward for killing the giant which included riches and the King Saul’s daughter. Giant killing is not only fun but profitable.
For every giant you face theft is a reward standing just beyond it, well within your view.
Once you’ve named, defined and committed to slaying your giant, you must keep the reward in view. What is so important to you that this giant must be slayed?
Change on a personal, local or national level?
Financial freedom?
Deeper relationships?
Fighting giants for the sake of fighting giants is just a death wish. YOUR giants, on the other hand, guard something, something important to you and THAT is the giant that needs saying.
Stay away from giants who hold no reward.
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