Facing Giants: Finding Rest in the Midst of Overwhelming Odds

# Facing Giants: Finding Rest in the Midst of Overwhelming Odds

Life has a way of throwing battles at us when we least expect them. Just when we think we've earned a moment of peace, just when we're settling back into our routines, another challenge emerges on the horizon—often bigger and more intimidating than anything we've faced before.

The story of Israel's northern campaign in Joshua 11 captures this reality with striking clarity. Fresh from victory in the southern territories, the Israelite army returned home to Gilgal. Imagine the scene: soldiers reuniting with their families, children running to embrace their fathers, the community celebrating their safe return. They had witnessed incredible victories—walls falling at Jericho, five kings defeated in a single campaign, God stopping the sun in the sky.

Then came the news.

An army was assembling in the north—one described as "numerous as the sand on the seashore." Not only were they vastly outnumbered, but this enemy possessed something Israel had never encountered before: horses and chariots. This was the ancient equivalent of facing tanks when you only have rifles. Modern warfare had arrived, and Israel seemed hopelessly outmatched.

## When Battles Come Ready or Not

The truth is, battles don't wait for convenient moments. They don't check our calendars or ask if we're emotionally prepared. Whether we're young adults navigating anxiety about the future, parents watching our children struggle, or in our later years wondering if our lives still matter—each stage of life brings its own overwhelming odds.

For some, the battle is financial stress in an uncertain economy. For others, it's the weight of broken relationships or the suffocating grip of anxiety and depression. Some face health challenges that seem insurmountable. The battles are real, and they often feel as numerous as sand on a seashore.

But here's where the story gets interesting.

## Four Steps to Facing the Impossible

**First: Remember His Words**

Before the battle began, God spoke to Joshua with a familiar refrain: "Do not be afraid of them, for this time tomorrow, I will cause all of them to be killed before Israel." This wasn't the first time Joshua had heard these words. God had told him repeatedly to "be strong and courageous."

When we face our battles, we need to remember what God has already spoken. He is the same God who parted the Red Sea, who brought down the walls of Jericho, who provided manna in the wilderness. His character hasn't changed. His power hasn't diminished. His promises still stand.

**Second: Live Them Out**

Hearing God's words isn't enough. Joshua didn't just listen and wait—he acted. The text simply says, "So Joshua and all his troops surprised them at the waters of Merom and attacked them." There's no elaborate battle plan described here, just immediate obedience.

God works in us so He can work through us. Faith without action is dead. When God speaks courage over our anxiety, we must choose to step forward despite our fear. When He promises provision, we must trust Him even when the bank account looks grim.

**Third: Watch What God Will Do**

Here's the beautiful part: "The Lord handed them over to Israel." Despite the overwhelming odds, despite the horses and chariots, despite the vast numbers, God delivered the victory. The outcome was never in doubt—not because of Israel's strength, but because of God's faithfulness.

How many times in our lives do we need to simply step back and watch what God will do? We exhaust ourselves trying to manufacture solutions, forgetting that the battle belongs to the Lord.

**Fourth: Obey Even When It's Hard**

After the victory, God gave Joshua a puzzling command: hamstring the horses and burn the chariots. Wait—wouldn't it make sense to keep these valuable military assets? Why destroy perfectly good weapons?

The answer is found in Psalm 20:7: "Some take pride in chariots and others in horses, but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God."

God wanted Israel to understand that their victories came from Him alone, not from superior weaponry or military might. He was teaching them—and us—a crucial lesson: don't put your trust in anything except Me.

What are you trusting in today? Your 401k? Your network of connections? Your own intelligence or abilities? God may be asking you to "burn the chariots"—to destroy your backup plans and trust Him completely.

## The Call to Holiness

There's a deeper reason behind God's commands in this passage. He was establishing Israel in a "holy land"—land set apart for His purposes. As God told His people in Leviticus 11:44, "Be holy because I am holy."

This call to holiness echoes through Scripture and lands squarely in our lives today. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, that we've been bought with a price, and therefore we should glorify God with our bodies.

Holiness isn't about perfection—it's about pursuit. It's about allowing God to search our hearts and remove anything that stands between us and Him. Sometimes God needs to burn things in our lives completely so something new can grow. We can't just trim back the branches of sin; we need to destroy the roots.

## Defeating the Giants

Perhaps the most powerful moment in this passage comes when Joshua "proceeded to exterminate the Anakim from the hill country." The Anakim were the giants—the very ones that had terrified an entire generation of Israelites forty years earlier.

Remember the report from the spies? "We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them." That generation, paralyzed by fear and unbelief, never entered the Promised Land. They died in the wilderness.

But Joshua and Caleb, who had said "Let's go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it"—they lived to see this day. They lived to defeat the giants.

Your giants—whatever they are—seem enormous to you. But they're nothing to God. The battle that feels impossible to you is already won in His hands.

## Entering Rest

The chapter ends with a beautiful phrase: "After this, the land had rest from war."

The writer of Hebrews reflects on this rest, explaining that Israel's rest was only a shadow of the true rest we find in Christ. "The person who has entered his rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from his" (Hebrews 4:10).

This is the invitation extended to each of us today: to find our rest not in the absence of battles, but in the presence of Jesus. To stop striving in our own strength and instead trust in His. To cease from our works and rely on His finished work on the cross.

The battles will come. The odds will seem overwhelming. The giants will appear. But remember His words. Live them out. Watch what He will do. Obey even when it's hard.

And discover that in the midst of the storm, there is rest—not because the battle has ended, but because Jesus is in the boat with you.

Be strong and courageous. The Lord your God is with you wherever you go.