Not Your Giant? | Understanding the Need to “Choose Your Battles”

Too often Believers are under the impression that anything they witness is their responsibility. They see a giant and ZAP, time and energy are pulled toward the untoward giant. This can happen over and over again until Believers are left wondering why they are so tired… and why only a handful of giants ever crumbled.

We may ask, “shouldn’t Believers go after giants?” After all, Believers are meant to make a difference, to bring God’s Light to the world… so why not battle the enemy? But the reality is, not every battle is ours. Each of us has a particular, God-given call filled with gifts and abilities that allow us to accomplish what GOD wants us to accomplish… not what we IMAGINE. 

Ultimately, you must “choose your battles” and remember that sometimes, the Lord will fight for you.

Join us as we explore this revelation that not every battle is ours, and how walking in this allows us to fully answer our call!

YOU Do Not Need to Fight Everything

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

—Exodus 14:14

When we witness injustice, corruption, sickness, poverty, etc., we can desire to eradicate it all; replacing it instead with God’s justice, honesty, health, and surplus. And while many things are indeed ours to pray over, fight, plant seeds into, and so forth, we need to remember that not everything we see is ours; bad and good alike.

Certainly, there are times when we are meant to face giants; battling for God’s Kingdom! However, Believers often have this tendency to run after every issue. To see a problem, grab our weapons, and attack. Choosing to enter into battle after battle without asking God if we are meant to—assuming that witnessing a thing makes it ours.

But this is not the way, as you must choose your battles wisely.

Fighting in battles that we are not meant to engage in can lead to:

• Exhaustion
• Injury
• Doubt
• Hopelessness
• Burnout
• Disorientation
• Confusion About Our Calling
• Frustration

None of these things are a part of our call; none of these are God’s best and highest for us. 

Thankfully, we do not have to persist down that path. We can lean in to God, allowing Him to choose which giants we are to face and what battles we are to enter!

Why You Must Choose Your Battles

Continually entering into fights that are not meant for us leaves us battered and bruised. This is not God’s desire for us, nor is it an effective way to grow the Kingdom of God! We have to actively, and in tandem with God, choose our battles, entering only into those that Holy Spirit says we are to enter.

While it can at first appear counterintuitive, not everything contrary to God’s Kingdom that we encounter is for us to engage with; not even every prophetic dream, vision, or assignment. Sometimes we are meant to bring it to the notice of someone else. Sometimes we are meant to say a quick prayer in agreement with God’s will and then move on. Still other times God will say, “that is not for you,” and then in obedience we need to leave it alone. 

The thing we have to remember is that God is in control. And you must allow him to guide you as you choose your battles.

God knows who is meant for what assignment. He sees the bigger picture and knows exactly how to bring it all together… and at times, this means that we are not the right person for the job. This is NOT rejection. This is the amazing love of God, poured out on us, so that not only are we not hurt or tired from irrelevant battles, but we are at the right place AND time for our personal call!

“And he said, ‘Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the Lord to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go down against them… You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem!” Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you.’”

—2 Chronicles 20:15-17

Second Chronicles 20 is a wonderful reminder of an additional scenario. One where, yes, God wants us to act, but our action is a matter of faith rather than battling. In 2 Chronicles 20:15-17 the people were told to assemble, but also that ultimately, it would be the Lord who would fight the battle, not them.

Sometimes we are given similar directives. Of doing the small thing in anticipation of God doing the big thing… 

Remember David facing Goliath; David’s faith to face the giant put him in the right place at the right time. But while David’s smooth stone and his sling were used by God to bring the giant down, ultimately, it was God who caused the small obedient act to win the battle. Or remember when Joshua and the children of Israel obeyed God, walking around Jericho every day for six days, then seven times on the seventh day with trumpet (shofar) blasts and great shouts. Their obedience to battle God’s way—to do the small thing, trusting God to do the big—caused God to turn their blasts and shouts into a force strong enough to bring down the walls of Jericho!

Obedience to do the little thing while God does the big thing can be the mechanism that brings down giants or wins a battle. Yes, God could win those battles without our obedience, without us at all, but He loves us. He wants us to grow our faith… to understand that the battle truly belongs to the Lord! 

Being Selective in What We Focus On

As Believers, we have to be selective about our words, actions, thoughts, and deeds. This is largely due to our need to align ourselves with God and His ways, rather than aligning with the world. But it is also because each of us has a unique call upon our lives. God made each of us with unique talents and abilities that build up the Kingdom best when used intentionally.

Being selective is not saying that we are too good for a particular task, or even not good enough. Instead, it is walking in spiritual wisdom, listening to the Holy Spirit, and not wasting our time or God’s. 

It is deciding to be like the good servants whose master went on a trip, leaving each servant with some talents (money)… when the master returned, those good servants had increased what was given! We can each increase what God has given us through Godly wisdom. Through being selective. Now, this is not an excuse to avoid doing things we do not want to do, or to not face battles at all; we are meant to be stretched and to grow our faith through testing after all. But we do need to be in tune with the Holy Spirit… willing to focus on what God desires us to do, and equally, ignoring what He says to ignore.

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

—Exodus 14:14 (NIV)

In this world it is easy to lose focus. It is easy to find our heads spinning as issue after issue comes into view. The key is to focus on God, not on the problems of the world. To turn our gaze upward to God, recognizing that ultimately, it is He who takes care of every issue, every worry. Certainly, our Father will place things on our hearts to champion—in prayer, giving, and/or action. There will be giants we face and battles we enter. Yet, thankfully, through it all, God is on the Throne. God is in control. And it is He who will see us through. So, allow Him to guide you as you choose your battles.