There are days when we feel small, when we feel defeated, when we feel we will be squashed under the foot of something bigger looming over us, not my favorite days! But these days hold treasure that grow and expand our heart’s capacity for “the more” God has for us in this life.
I have been facing my giants lately. Having difficult conversations, putting things out on the table and not skirting around issues, facing things head on, looking forward and not backwards. It’s uncomfortable.
Giants are not comfortable –
big and bulky,
clumsy and careless,
scary and seemingly sadistic.
They have a way of keeping us stuck, feet planted in cement unable to see past them. They can block our vision taking up our whole horizon as we focus on the immensity of them.
They can define us,
they can capture us,
they can immobilize us
OR
they can refine us,
they can free us,
they can propel us forward into the new,
secret dreams that dance in our hearts.
What giants are keeping you stuck???
The giant of “not enough.”
The giant of fear to confront.
The giant of offense.
The giant of insecurity.
The giant of unworthiness and undeservedness.
The giant of smallness and insignificance.
The giant of fear for intimacy and vulnerability.
The giant of being wrong.
What is it???
What I have learned is that our giants are facades, they are shadows cast to look bigger and scarier than they really are. Their job is to make you cringe, to cower in fear, to shut up and take it, to become invisible as you allow the mirage to become your reality…but it is a facade, it is not real!
Most of the things we fear are in our heads, spinning and growing as we run from them instead of turning to look them in the eye and face them head on. The stories we spin come alive and take on a life of their own which color our worlds like filters over our eyes that focus us in on the evidences to support the stories.
Most of the things we fear are not personal, not about us at all – the way she looked at me, the way he responded to me – what she said – what she didn’t say – NOT ABOUT YOU! We all come with baggage that we pick up along the way in this broken world and we interact with each other daily, baggage in tow. Most of the stuff that happens between us is not ever really about us— it’s about the person and their own baggage. It’s their stuff not yours but we make it personal and so we pick it up and carry it around, becoming burdened and exhausted because, after all, baggage is heavy!
Most of the stuff we fear is just a conversation away from over. Stepping into the uncomfortableness, moving in and offering vulnerability as resolution. Taking an honest inventory of your piece of the jumbled up puzzle and offering with humility the hands to sort and put pieces where they belong.
**A word of caution – not all people are safe and not all conversations should be had with unsafe people.
Guarding your heart is a prerequisite for facing your giants. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”
But know this – there is One who is always safe, who has your best interest at heart and can be depended on to listen, offering vulnerability and humility as you wrestle and work through the giants in your life. Just because some people can not offer such safety does not give you an out to not deal with those giants – He moves in ever closer to support and walk with you out of the shadows of those things that oppress.
He can be trusted!
Your giants are like fish in a fishbowl, if you up the size of the fishbowl the fish will grow larger and fill its environment, as do your giants. They will be as big as you let them grow, so stop the madness! Stop running, turn around and look that giant in the eye today.
What is it name?
Identify it,
call it out of the dark,
move closer and
watch is shrink in size right before your eyes.
Be of good courage – Face your giants!!
