And they said to all the company of Israelites, The land through which we passed as scouts is an exceedingly good land.

⁸ If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁹ Only do not rebel against the Lord, neither fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their defense and the shadow [of protection] is removed from over them, but the Lord is with us. Fear them not. – Numbers 14:7-9

What is our spiritual food as Christians? There are a number of them mentioned in the scriptures but one that comes to mind quite easily is the word of God. In Matthew 4:4, Jesus said to Satan, ”It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Another spiritual food that strengthens us as Christians is doing the will of God. If the word of God is our spiritual bread then doing His will is our spiritual meat. In John 4:34, Jesus said, ”My food, is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

Those are two of the obvious types of spiritual nourishment that we require to be built up in the spirit. There is a third type of spiritual food I’d like to introduce you to and that is ‘giants’. Giants are difficulties and obstacles we face along the straight and narrow path as we walk with God. Just as giants stood in the way of the Israelites entering into God’s promises thousands of years ago, we too face a variety of giants on our way to the land of promises.

In my little encounter with giants, I have come to accept Joshua and Caleb’s description of them as bread. Giants are actually what I like to call breakfast for champions. Nothing strengthens a believer’s spirit like facing a giant and overcoming them in the name of the Lord. Joshua and Caleb saw God when the other ten spies saw giants. Several years later, Caleb was so strong in the spirit after facing countless giants in his lifetime that the scriptures record he was just as strong at 85 as he was at 40! Joshua’s attitude to giants also resulted in his testimony in Joshua 21:45, which says, ”Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. Remarkable.

Another biblical character that became strong in spirit from facing countless giants was David. After his defeat of Goliath, life never remained the same for this young man. He did not cower in fear but rather understood like Joshua and Caleb that with God on his side, defeat was not an option. Once again, others saw a giant, Goliath, but David saw him as bread through the eyes of faith.

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” – 1 Samuel 17:45-47

Whatever giant may be standing in your way today, I urge you to look at the God who is far greater than any giant. Like David, Caleb and Joshua, see God where others see giants and eat the bread of opposition that will strengthen you to fully possess your destiny in God. Your challenges and difficulties in life are designed to propel you into greatness as you lean on the Over-comer, Jesus Christ.

Related articles

• Caleb Judged Worthy (loopyloo305.com)
• Faith Child – Who’s your Champ? (ptl2010.com)
• David Battles Goliath (trinityspeaks.wordpress.com)