Dear Friend,
I want to ask you a question. Has fear been trying to knock at the door of your heart or your mind or your emotions? In this world that we’re living in today, we could be afraid of anything. We can be afraid of this disease or that problem or these relational difficulties or those things going on in this country or that country, and that fear is just mounting up like a river that’s about to swell over its banks.
I want to say right now, if you are struggling with fear, there’s no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says that He was tempted in all ways as we are. Of course, He did not sin, but He understands and empathizes and sympathizes with us when we are tempted to fear. Fear comes to all of us, so we need to have some tools to deal with that fear. We can’t just let fear have its way and push us backward; we have to recognize the faith that God puts in us when we are born again and use that faith against fear.
Today, I want to talk to you about a great overcomer, and that is David. The Bible says that through the blood of Jesus, through the resurrection, through the word of God, we are more than conquerors, and if fear comes knocking at our door, we have power to overcome, just like David overcame the giant.
*[If you started reading this from your email, begin reading here.]
David’s Anointing
Now, we’re going to talk about how David defeated Goliath, but I’ve got to start with something very important, and that is when David was anointed.
In First Samuel, starting at the beginning of chapter 16, we see all these clues about how important this anointing is that Samuel comes with:
Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided for Myself a king among his sons.”
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
—1 Samuel 16:1-2
That’s how important this was, that Samuel could have died for the anointing he was carrying for David!
We get another clue when he arrives in Bethlehem. The Bible says that the elders of the town “trembled at his coming.” It is such a big deal that Samuel is coming to their little, tiny town of Bethlehem. Samuel’s presence, his influence, his reputation are all scary. It’s so powerful, and the men are terrified. They even ask about his coming:
“Do you come peaceably?”
And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
—1 Samuel 16:4-5
So, when Jesse brings forward his sons, Samuel looks at Eliab, and he thinks that surely the Lord’s anointed is before him right now. Surely, it’s Eliab. But the Lord says to Samuel:
“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
—1 Samuel 16:7
Then Jesse brings one more of his sons, Abinadab. He brings him forward, but the Lord says, “Nope, that’s not the one.” Jesse then brings forward Shammah, and the Lord says, “Nope, that’s not the one.” Jesse brings seven of his sons before Samuel, but none of them are the one that God has chosen. Finally, Samuel has to ask him, “Is this all you have?”
Now, I want you to pay close attention here, because it seems to me this is a huge thing that has happened for this family. The prophet Samuel came, and everybody was consecrated to do this sacrifice, and they’re all there except for one. David. Jesse could have called David for that special experience, but he didn’t. But that didn’t matter, because God called David.
Maybe fear has tried to say to you, “Well, you’re not so and so,” or “You don’t look like so and so,” or “You can’t do what other people do,” or “You’re not wealthy,” or all these other terrible things that our minds think sometimes to put us down. But God chose him. God chose David, and God chose you. It doesn’t matter what other people are thinking or saying. God chose you to carry His power and His name. He chose you to make a difference in your family, at your job, or at your school.
God’s anointing is on you, just like we see it was on David. Verse 12 tells us that when David comes, the Lord says, “This is the one.” The one who wasn’t called by his father or his brothers is exactly the one who is called by God, because it doesn’t matter what people think compared to God’s calling on your life. And then verse 13 says:
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.
—1 Samuel 16:13
Walking in the Anointing
Now what happens after that? Well, in chapter 17, we hear about this war that’s happening between the Israelites and the Philistines. There’s a valley between the two armies, the Israelites on one side and the Philistines on the other. The Philistines bring forth, it says, a great man of war, Goliath, a giant. And for 40 days, that giant does his very best to intimidate the children of Israel.
Well, Jesse sends David down to the camp with cheeses and bread to feed his brothers who are fighting in this battle. When David arrives, of course, he hears Goliath yelling and intimidating and defying the armies of Israel, and he sees that these men are dreadfully afraid. And David says:
“What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
—1 Samuel 17:26
Now, this is where we can begin to see the effect of that anointing. Being anointed was not just some small thing. A few weeks or maybe just a few days ago, David was just a shepherd boy, but now, he’s been anointed by Samuel, by the Lord, and an anointing carries power. It is a big deal. So, when David goes to that battle, he’s had a change in his life, and he is bold in the face of fear.
But just like before, when David wasn’t even called to his own anointing, he has to overcome so much in the Israelite camp. He overcomes Eliab saying to him, “You are just prideful and insolent. You just want to be here and see the battle.” He puts David down so bad. Then David goes before Saul, the king, and Saul even says, “You’re not able to do this.” He tries to discourage David and put armor on him that he can’t wear, but David says to Saul:
“Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
—1 Samuel 17:36-37
And why is David so bold? Maybe a few weeks ago, maybe even a few days ago, he was just a shepherd boy. Now, everyone tells him he can’t defeat this giant, but When David comes to that battle, he has been anointed King. He is moving in something that he didn’t have before.
When Fear Comes Knocking
David finally faces the giant, and when Goliath sees him, the Bible says, “he disdained him for he was only a youth.” He doesn’t know about the anointing on David. So, the Philistine says to David,
“Am I a dog, that you’ve come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”
—1 Samuel 17:43-44
Has fear ever tried to breathe down your neck and say, “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. I’ll tell you what you’re not going to do”? Well, that is what this Philistine is telling David.
So many times, God gives us an assignment or tells us to do something, and we are ready to do it, and we start moving forward, but then something happens—the enemy starts speaking to us, or somebody else voices a hurtful opinion, or maybe we get offended. Something happens and then fear starts to have a voice. Fear will stop us in our assignment. Before, we saw so clearly, “Yes! Let’s do it! Let’s go forward!” But then fear begins to speak, and now we say, “I need to rethink that. I need to back up from that. I know God said that, but maybe that’s for somebody else to do. Maybe I’m not as strong as I think I am. If I do that, I’m going to fail, and what will happen to me after that?”
But look at what David says in verses 45 and 46:
“Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day, the Lord will give you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beast of the earth that the earth may know that there is a God in Israel”
We can say that to fear. We can say, “Fear, you just shut up right now. You’re not even allowed to speak another word to me. This day, fear, you will bow!”
This is what David is saying, and you know what he does next? He doesn’t bow to fear. In fact, the Bible says he runs toward the giant. Faith does not hesitate. Fear hesitates and pulls back, but faith charges forward. David pulls that sling, a weapon that he was familiar with, and that rock goes right into that giant’s temple, and that giant falls right to the ground. Then, just like he said, David runs to the giant, takes the giant’s sword, and cuts off his head.
Anointing in your life
You may be saying, “Well, I’m not like David. I’m not bold. I’m not a king or even a future king. I couldn’t be like that.”
Friend, if I ask you, “Do you think that David was mightily anointed?” you would probably say, “Of course he was. I mean, Samuel poured that oil over him. The Bible says he was anointed.” But let me tell you something important right now: we are anointed too.
As I was studying this, I thought about how the Lord says in His word that we have the spirit of Christ in us because if we are without Christ, we’re none of His (See Romans 8:9). But we are with Christ, and the word “Christ” means the anointed one and His anointing. The Anointed One has come in to live on the inside of you, to even empower you and be with you every single moment of every single day. We are anointed and empowered just like David.
Before you come to Christ, you are just a person who is in the world doing your own sinful thing. The Bible even says that we were servants to the enemy of this world. Our hearts were against God. But when you get born again, you are anointed. I’m saying to you, friend, we’re not just some mere little Christians walking around in this world without any power and without any authority. No! We’re anointed.
It says in 1 Corinthians 6:19,
“Don’t you know that the Holy Spirit lives on the inside of you and that you are his temple?”
You are not just some little person down here on Earth while God gets to be great and big up there in Heaven. You are one with the Lord. Yes, God is almighty and amazing and magnificent. We cannot even come up with enough adjectives to describe Him. But He says in His word that He is one with you. You are anointed.
Like David, we do not have to bow to the enemy of fear. We do not have to bow to the enemy of sickness. We do not have to bow to the enemy of strife and confusion and hate. We’re anointed to say, “No, fear. You will not dominate me. You will not manipulate me. You will not stop me because the greater one is in me than he that’s in this world. I am anointed by God to stand up against you.” Isn’t this fantastic? You’re not just some little Christian struggling around in this world. If Christ lives inside of you, you are anointed. You’re anointed to take down and overcome the spirit of fear.
Friend, we’ve got to recognize that when God speaks to us, He wants us to do what He said, and He gives us the power to do it. When you come to your battle or your giant, when you come to that place where fear is trying to overcome you, you are anointed to overcome it. You’re equipped to face the enemy. You’re equipped to face the giant. You’re equipped to say “No” to fear. You’re equipped to shut up the lies of the enemy.
Before, David was just a shepherd boy. He wasn’t special beyond you and me. But after he was anointed king, he went into that battle with that giant with something that he didn’t have before, and he came out a conqueror. And that power that he had is the same power that’s inside of you.
Closing
Before I close my letter to you, I just want to invite you to join me every Wednesday on TIME with Denise Renner. Every Wednesday at 12:00 PM CT, I get the privilege of opening up God’s word and sharing what’s on my heart for you. You can watch on my Facebook page, YouTube channel, or by visiting Renner.org. I hope you’ll join me!
I hope you were encouraged by this letter. It is so encouraging that God gives us this anointing so freely, but fear still tries to sneak in, and sometimes the enemy manages to whisper in your ear. If you’re struggling with fear or anxiety in your life right now, I want to tell you that we’re here for you. Prayer is such an important aspect of our lives as believers, and I want you to know that we take each and every one of your prayer requests seriously. To connect with our prayer team, call 1.844.473.6637 or send an email to prayer@deniserenner.org. We hope to hear from you soon!
We are moving forward together,
Denise Renner