Take Your Eyes Off the Giant

By Pastor Justin Cooper

Ever been on a plane when the captain's voice comes on and says, "Folks, we're going to hit some turbulence"? Watch what people do. Nobody unbuckles, runs up the aisle, and pounds on the cockpit door yelling, "Let me in — let me fly us through this!" You stay in your seat. You buckle up. And you trust the pilot, because flying the plane is his job, not yours.

Pastor Cooper said that's the picture for the fearful season you might be in right now. When life gets bumpy, your job isn't to grab the controls and white-knuckle your way through. Your job is simpler and harder than that:

"Our job is simply to sit back... keep your seat belt buckled, but Jesus is the pilot. Keep your eyes upon the Lord."

That's the whole battle, really — where your eyes go. Israel's army lost before the fight started because they only stared at one thing: Goliath. They stopped rehearsing the Red Sea, the water from the rock, every mighty thing God had already done, and they made the giant the biggest object in the room. The moment your problem is all you can see, all you can talk about, all you think about, it has quietly become the thing you worship. And the promise stands the other way too: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee" (Isaiah 26:3).

So how do you actually move? Pastor Cooper gave a next step so simple it's easy to skip: confess your fear and ask God for more faith. You don't have to dress it up. "Maybe just tell God, 'Lord, I'm scared.' He already knows. He's not going to think worse about you." Then ask Him to grow your faith bigger than your fear. That's not weakness. That's how the fight gets won.

This week, take the next step:

Open your Bible to Psalm 27 and underline verse 1 — "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Then do the hard part: don't isolate. Fear tells you to withdraw; text one faith-filled friend and tell them the giant you're facing. Remember what the army did once David stepped out — they stopped hiding and joined the fight. Courage is contagious. Go catch some.