A Life Lesson From Jonathan
“Let’s go across to those heathen…
perhaps the Lord will do a miracle for us.
I Samuel 14:6 TLB
In this day of wide-spread doubt as to God’s power and intentions, it’s difficult to find faith in quantifiable amounts in most… even Christians!
We hear things like: “If God wants to do something, He’ll do it.” Or “I’m pretty sure He quit doing the miraculous after the original disciples died.” Or “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
None of those approaches give God the credit or the opportunities He’s looking for. His advice is simple… “If you wish to see something miraculous, begin believing in the miraculous and ask for it.”
But what if we really don’t have that level of faith? What if we still have some doubts? What if all we have is a ‘mustard seed size’ tiny bit of faith?
Let’s ask King Saul’s son Jonathan to teach us this spiritual lesson. Here’s what was going on among the Israelis. The wicked Philistines had them pinned down and extremely low on morale. And although hard to believe, the entire arsenal of Israel was down to two (that’s 2!) swords. Jonathan had one and his armor-bearer had the second.
They easily could have turned in their embarrassingly tiny sized pieces of mustard faith and joined the rest of the beleaguered and already beaten troops playing solitaire in their tents or they could go in another direction entirely.
It’s easy today to feel the heavy mantle of hopelessness. We might even be convinced that we, too, are basically weaponless. And oh, how Satan would love for us to adopt this “We’re soup… just come and take us captive.” But we would do ourselves and our Heavenly Father a terrible disservice with that defeated confession.
As Jonathan leads his armor-bearer walking towards the enemy’s position, he speaks from a heart filled with questions but speaks the words God is waiting to hear: “Let’s go across to those heathen… perhaps the Lord will do a miracle for us.”
After receiving a sign from God, they climb hand over hand to the top of the cliff and after a short skirmish, kill all 20 of the troops guarding the Philistine’s camp. AND THEN GOD TOOK IT FROM THERE! According to I Samuel 14:15, panic broke out in the camp, then came an earthquake and the terrified Philistines fled for their lives!
We can’t make miracles happen, but we can move by faith in the direction of the One who can do the miraculous and get to witness a display of God’s power. Stop allowing doubts to cancel the faith you do possess!
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