And Jonathan said
unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath
delivered them into the hand of Israel. 13 And
Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer
after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan
and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre
of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow. –I Samuel 14:12-14 (KJV)
As I read this
passage where an Israelite named Jonathan, along with his armor bearer,
defeated 20 men, I am amazed at his courage and fortitude. At the time, the Israelites were being
oppressed by their enemies the Philistines.
God’s people were also being led by an inept king named Saul, who was
Jonathan’s father. Jonathan grew weary
of waiting for the enemy to attack and so he decided to take the fight to the
enemy. Such courage is born of faith in
God and a firm conviction that with God victory is possible. I can only imagine what Jonathan was thinking
as he approached a group of soldiers who outnumbered him ten to one and would
gladly have hung his head on a pike. Few
men would have undertaken such a challenge, but Jonathan was a young man of
faith and integrity. He believed God
would bring a victory.
What sort of
struggles are you facing right now?
Are you at times cowering in fear or are you walking forward in bold and
confident faith? I confess in my own
life there have been times when I have not only cowered in fear, but I wanted
to hide under the covers of my bed curled up in a fetal position. Fear will have such an effect on us. Should fear take hold in our lives the result
is spiritual paralysis and physically exhaustion. Being afraid all the time simply wears us out
and stalls our forward momentum. I see a
powerful lesson in Jonathan. He grew so
tired of being afraid that he decided to rise up and face the enemy.
Understand that
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ confronts fear and drives it out of our
way. The faith Jesus spoke of, the kind
which moves mountains from our lives (Matthew 17:20), is faith unfettered by the
chains of fear. Faith in Christ overcomes
the fear of stepping forward into a deeper walk with the Lord and greater
devotion to Him. The world is filled
with people who desire to walk daily in spiritual victory, but they allow fear
to hinder them. Let me challenge you to
begin thinking in terms of faith rather than fear, of seeking God’s will rather
than your own, and of confronting challenges rather than avoiding them. As Jesus said, “And nothing shall be
impossible for you (Matthew 17:20b).”
You are a beloved
child of God. We have been given new
life in Christ and the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit. Do not allow fear to keep you from moving
forward in faith. Perhaps a new ministry
is waiting. Maybe a long desired
educational goal is possible. A loved
one who doesn’t know Christ needs His loved demonstrated. The possibilities are endless, but the Lord
knows which ones are intended for you. Do
not delay; move forward in faith.
God bless you
today.
