G is for GOLIATH

Ninety six metres tall, with a span of one hundred and forty metres and able to lift over eight hundred tonnes to a height of seventy metres, Goliath is a giant among giants. It stands, towering over Belfast like a huge dinosaur, preying on its enemy and for a few years it seemed that extinction was a real possibility, as the decline in shipbuilding rendered its use negligible. For several years it has lain redundant but during that time its future has been made more secure with its formal recognition as an historic monument and now its recommissioning in the past year as building orders are secured. I remember when it wasn't there, for it only appeared on the horizon in 1969 but it now stands in all its yellow glory, with the large H and W in bright red colour on each side of its length. It's a mighty crane, able to do jobs that lesser machines would take longer to complete, or could not even attempt and it has made the job of ship building somewhat less difficult. From a distance you get no idea of the size of the crane, but drive on the motorway that passes close to it and suddenly it really does become a giant. When I look up to the small control compartments on the top and realise that a human being is inside one of them, I get some perspective on its sheer enormity and our minuteness.

I often wonder what it's like up there, for I'm no great lover of heights. I guess I found some of my answers by reading the experience of someone who had scaled the monument. This is a rough summary of what I have learned. First, while there are steps, a noisy, slow elevator takes you towards the top, followed by a few flights of steel steps and then it's through a simple steel door to the blue sky and the wind in your face beyond. I'm not even up on the crane but the realisation that some of the workers eat their lunch with their legs dangling over the edge, gave me this jelly like feeling in my knees - and I'm only reading it. But the view, I'm told, is awesome, even if it's slightly disconcerting to see planes coming in to land at the nearby airport, that are actually lower in the sky than the crane. More of that same jelly like feeling again. Then to be informed that when you're up there you can feel the crane swaying in the wind and on a particularly wild day, move right along their tramlines if not braked properly. Knees now completely wobbly. But it's the pictures that do the most damage to my limbs. Seeing the view over Belfast and how small everything looks down below. This is a crane too far!

Goliath towered over David and I'm sure the young shepherd wondered what it was like to be up there, surveying the whole world from his lofty height and physical superiority. Conversely, I'm sure as Goliath looked down on the latest pretender to his crown, he had already dismissed him in his mind as a flea to be squashed, a beetle to be trampled on and heaped scorn on his lack of preparation for the fight. But the key to David's success wasn't in his chosen weapons, though he was an accurate shot, but in his obedience to his God and his complete confidence in his creator to deliver him. Goliath had been taunting the Israelites for over a month but he fell in just a few seconds.

What is the Goliath you're facing in your Christian life today. It stands as a barrier to your spiritual progress. It stares at you defiantly. It scorns your lack of will to deal with it. It has troubled you for more than a few weeks.You look for ways to get rid of it but it laughs at your efforts. It makes you weak when you see its power over you. Maybe you need to have more confidence in the real source of power rather than run away from every taunt of the dark angel. It's time to bring Goliath down. It's time to make it extinct. It's time to trust God to deliver you. It;s time to stand up rather than go weak at the knees. That same David in Psalm 61 says of his God, 'For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe.' Paul also tells the Christians at Ephesus 'be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.'

The Goliath crane is 96 m tall but close by is Samson, towering over it by ten metres. In the Bible, Samson appeared to get his strength from his hair but his true fortitude arose from his obedience to his maker. I'd like to think that those two cranes remind me that for all the Goliaths I meet in my spiritual walk, God is head and shoulders above them and can give me the strength I need. I reckon Goliath looks pretty small from where Samson is!