Taffi Dollar - The Importance of Not Running From Battles - Part 2
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Pastor Taffi Dollar teaches that to stop running from problems, we must confront them with faith like David did against Goliath, being bigger than our fears, recognizing that the size of the problem doesn’t matter because God is with us, and using what we already have in His strength.
Being Bigger Than Your Fears
So one of the ways that we can stop running away from our problems is to be bigger than your fears. Be bigger than your fears. I remember before the pandemic started, Creflo called me in. He said, «I got a call from the mayor of South Fulton. He says we’ve got to cancel services. We’ve got to shut down the building. We cannot allow any more than, ” whatever the number was at that time.
And we were right on the cusp of our annual conference. And I said, „Dear Lord, ” this was like the second or third week in March before things just began—things were just kind of starting to happen. And it was this toiling between the decision to cancel it or to have it.
Facing the Unknown Head-On
Now, granted, that was before any events were virtual, before everybody during that time was just canceling everything. All the major events were canceled. Music festivals, sporting events—everything was canceled. Anybody remember that? And so I said, „Lord, I just need to not allow my fear to govern dealing with this situation, dealing with this problem.“
And so I realized the importance of just being led by God and knowing whether or not I’m doing what God wants me to do, because I’m more concerned about pleasing Him than I am anything. And, you know, we had some things in place, thankfully, that we could easily pivot and make the meeting virtual, and that’s what we decided to do, as opposed to just canceling it altogether and just packing up everything that we had planned for such a long period of time.
Stepping Out in Faith
We said, „You know what? We’re going to face this head on.“ And you know, we were out there on the water. You know, sometimes when you face problems in your life, you’re out there by yourself. It hadn’t been done before—I mean, there’s nothing new under the sun, but it feels that way. And so it’s important for us to recognize that we must be bigger than our fears.
And that’s how David was. He was bigger than Goliath. He was bigger than the fears that all of the army had. He says, „I’m bigger than that. I’ve been out here with a lion, I’ve been out here with a bear. I’ve taken animals out of the lion’s mouth. I’ve taken animals out of the bear’s mouth. Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, because he’ll be just like the lion, he’ll be just like the bear.“
David’s Courage and Confidence
And so David showed up. And when he showed up, he showed up in courage. He showed up in confidence. He showed up willing to rely on God’s covenant, God’s plan for his life. All of Israel were terrified. None of them would dare to challenge Goliath, but after David heard about the reward for defeating Goliath, he accepted the challenge as if it were nothing. As if it were nothing.
Not to mention, he was like a baby in size. In fact, Saul asked him, „David, are you sure that you want to do this?“ Look at verse 24 and verse 37. It says: „And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, they were sore afraid.“
Trusting God’s Deliverance
Now, skip down to verse 37: „And David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.“ And Saul said unto David, „Go.“ Saul said, „I ain’t going, but you can go.“ Some people leave you out there by yourself, but that’s all right.
If you know that you know in your knower, hey, the Lord will be with you. Just like the Lord was with David. Just like the Lord was with Gideon. Just like all the other situations and patriarchs of the past. The Lord will be with us, amen?
The Size of the Problem Doesn’t Matter
And so, number two… Number one, be bigger than your fears. Number two, the size of the problem doesn’t matter. We have to make a decision. The size of the problem—because Goliath was huge. He was believed to be 9 feet tall, his armor-bearer went before him, and the tip of the sword was all these pounds. It was very obvious that he was a big man.
But you know what? David wasn’t moved by that. David wasn’t concerned about his size. Now, Saul was. And Saul brought it to his attention. So in life, we will come across big challenges. You know why? Because the devil wants to wipe us out. There’ll be some small challenges, there’ll be tiny challenges, there’ll be enormous challenges.
Mindset Determines Possibility
But the size of the challenge, the size of the problem, the size of the obstacle is irrelevant, because that doesn’t determine what’s possible for me. The only thing that determines what’s possible for you is your mindset. You determine what’s possible for you. You determine your mindset, you determine your beliefs, you determine how you see the problem.
See, David didn’t see the problem, Goliath, like everybody else saw the problem. David didn’t see the giant like his brothers saw the giant. David just popped up, „Hey, what’s going on?“ And they were all dismayed and worked up. He said, „Oh, absolutely not, ” because size did not matter to David.
Acting as If Failure Is Impossible
And if it did, he wouldn’t have had the courage to take on Goliath—especially with a staff and five smooth stones and a sling. It was David’s heart, it was his courage, and it was his commitment. So think bigger than the challenge. Be bigger than the obstacle.
And you know what David did? Act as if it’s impossible for you to fail. When we stepped out and did that conference, I’m like, „Oh, Lord, we’re out here on the water. Internet, don’t fail me now.“ People were joining the stream, and some of them were just falling out of the stream—people falling out left and right.
Texts, emails: „I’m getting kicked out. Somebody help me. I’m out here. I’m trying to watch y’all, but…“ You know, I’m like, „Oh, Father.“ That first session, it was something else. And then I just said, „Lord, I just trust you that you’re going to allow the people who need to hear this, the people who need to receive this, to be in the position to get what needs to be gotten.“
God Is With You in the Battle
And you’ve got to be like David. His attitude was, „This is impossible for me to fail.“ You know why? Because he had God on his side. He knew who he was. He knew who was backing him. He knew why he was doing it. His motive was right. The reason for what he was doing was right.
And so the size of the problem doesn’t matter. We have to make a what? Make a decision. And remind yourself when you make a decision that the Lord is with me. David was conscious of the fact that „God was with me when I was out in the shepherd’s field, and God’s gonna be with me right here in the midst of fighting Goliath. God is with me. The Lord is with me.“
I told our team, „The Lord is with us. I believe that God wants us to have this meeting. I don’t believe God wants us to cancel.“ And I got messages—people said, „Cancel it, ” „Postpone.“ And at that time, people were postponing to 2022, 2023. „Just cancel and postpone.“ I said, „No, we’re gonna have it, bless God.“
Never Alone With God
You have to make up in your mind and know in the midst of challenges that the Lord is with you. The Lord is with me. And that’s what Saul said. Saul said, „Hey, dude, you out there on your own. May the Lord be with you.“ And I like what he says over in Psalms 23: „That thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.“
When we get a revelation of who’s with us, we know that we are never alone, so I can face the problem. I can face the giants in my life. I don’t have to run. I don’t have to ignore them. I don’t have to hide. I don’t have to pretend like it’s not there. But I can face it just like David did.
I can stare it in the face just like David did because I know that the Lord has my back. And if we’re going down, we’re going down together, bless God, amen? But ain’t nobody going down.
Stop Running From Problems
So when everyone told David he couldn’t fight Goliath, he replied that he had fought the lion and the bear. Glory be to God. You got to make up in your mind and get a revelation. You got to get a revelation of this and stop running, because the devil will have you running all the days of your life. You just running.
And I’m telling you, some of you just need to stop running. Stop running. „I can do this. I’m bigger than this situation.“ „Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.“ If I need to apologize, if I need to take responsibility, if I messed up—hey, I’m not afraid of that. I’ll say that too.
But the enemy wants us to deceive ourselves—keep deceiving yourself, keep running. „You know you can’t deal with that, you better run. Here they come. Ohhh.“ No. Sometime in your life, child of God, you’ve gotta make up in your mind that I’m tired of running from the problems in my life, tired of running from the repo man. I’m tired now.
Tired of running from the debt collectors. Hello, what do you want? I don’t have the money. When I get the money, I’ll pay you back. Tired of running from you. Let’s face things, because it causes us to develop, causes us to get better. Causes God to get involved and to intervene in our everyday affairs. I’m telling you, ooh, glory be to God.
Make Use of What You Already Have
Now, let’s look at number three: Make use of what you already have. Look at what David did. Make use of what you already have. So many times, we think that we don’t have what it takes, we aren’t that person who can overcome the giants. We can’t do it because we need something else. We need to be another person.
We need to come in another way. We need to have X, Y, and Z. David didn’t think about any of that. In fact, when Saul came to David and Saul was trying to put his armor on David, it just did not fit—it was too big, it was not the right size. So David said, „No, I can’t. This is not me. I gotta take this off. Give me my five smooth stones and give me my sling.“
God Uses What You Have
David had everything that he needed. You have God. You get the Word, and I’m telling you, you get the Holy Ghost to tell you what to do, you spend some time in prayer, you get a word from the Lord on what to do in situations—how many of you know that’s all you need? He’ll tell you whether to move forward, He’ll tell you whether to stop.
He’ll tell you which direction to go in, if this is for you. But make use of what you already have. Look at 2 Kings chapter 4, verse 2. This is the woman who had lost her husband. She had lost everything. She said to the prophet, „You know, it’s just me and my son, and we’re just gonna stay here and die.“
And the prophet asked her, „What do you have in your house?“ You have to ask yourself, „What do I have?“ Obviously, this situation is coming into my life for a reason. So it’s gonna make me stronger, it’s gonna make me better, it’s gonna develop me—or I will decide not to develop, I will decide to shrink back.
I will decide to stay in the same situation, in fear, in intimidation, in avoidance. But she had to make the decision just like we do today, to make use of what we have.
The Power of a Pot of Oil
And the Scripture says that Elisha said to her, „What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house?“ What do you have in the house? It wasn’t what she didn’t have, it wasn’t what she could be, it wasn’t this fantasy of how something else had happened and that was the reason why.
He says, „No, woman, what do you have?“ „And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, ” nothing in the house. „Man of God, I have nothing in my house, except a pot of oil.“ And you know what? That’s the very thing that God used.
That’s what Saul had to understand with David. „I don’t have this armor, this big thing that I can put on me with all the artillery. I got my smooth stones, and that’s what I know, that’s what I have. And that’s what I’m going to use.“ And that’s the very thing that God used to defeat Goliath.
A So-What Attitude
Regardless of the comparison in weight—David was a little small, tiny thing. Regardless of the strength, the armory, the weapons, et cetera—David didn’t complain because of the differences like the Israelites would have. He had a so-what attitude and left everyone in shock after defeating Goliath so effortlessly.
How many of you know we got to change the trajectory of our lives, change the trajectory of our families? We’ve got to show up, start dealing with stuff, trust God, believe God, that when we show up, He’s going to give us the means and the knowledge and the ability to do what needs to be done. Somebody say, „The Lord is with me.“
Scriptures of God’s Presence
The Lord is with you. Let me give you a couple of Scriptures here on the Lord is with you. Remind yourself of these. Over in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 6—look at this in the Amplified Bible. Somebody say, „The Lord is with me.“ „The Lord is with me.“ „The Lord is with me.“ „The Lord is with me.“
„So we take courage and we are encouraged and confidently and boldly say”—He said, „So we take comfort.“ Take comfort. I’m comforting myself in this gigantic situation. I take comfort and I am encouraged, „confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?“
Turn to Psalms 118, verse 6. „The Lord is on my side.“ Just like David out of revelation. The Lord is on my side, big brother. The Lord is on my side, Saul. The Lord is on my side. Whose side am I on? Am I on the side of fear? Am I on the side of dismay?
What side am I on? Because the Lord wants to be on our side. We have to make a decision. Choose whose side you’re gonna be on when you deal with the giants in your life. You gotta make a decision.