For the Lord God helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed. -Isaiah 50:7

In sports, athletes steel themselves, with faces like stone, as they prepare for a serious challenge ahead. In our lives, when tough times are looming ahead, we can likewise steel ourselves as we step up to the plate.

Jesus did the same thing as He made His way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), for higher stakes than any athletic match, but for our very souls. And thanks to His finished work, we who choose to believe in and receive Him no longer have to worry about where we will go once we pass through this world.

Instead, we have daily and seasonal, and internal and external challenges to face…and Goliaths and mountains challenge us to trust He will topple them, if only we will move fearlessly through them.

In the wilderness, after two years of traveling, Moses sent twelve scouts to survey the Promised Land. All twelve saw the giants (the Nephilim), but only two of them reported that the Israelites would defeat them. The people chose fear based on the discouraging reports of the other ten scouts…and as a result, God had them wander in the wilderness for another 38 years (Num. 14:26-35).

Whatever mountains or Goliaths you face before you, can you have faith that God will topple them, if only you will keep moving forward into and through them? That the Creator of the Universe can work through you (instead of you in your own strength) to carry you to the other side?

If so, put on your game face. Set it like flint, and watch Him make the impossible possible…and thank Him for making a way where there seemed to be no way (Isa. 43:19).