Word of Encouragement (09/14/2023)

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few." (1 Sam. 14:6)

Again, this is not a prayer, but it may be a reflection of what Jonathan prayed to the LORD before he said these words out loud to his armor bearer. Seeing what happened in this incident, his prayer must have been for a sign from the LORD that He would give victory to His people despite their huge disadvantage in numbers.

Do you see the reason behind Jonathan’s conviction? He saw, just as other Hebrews did, that Israel was hard-pressed by the enormous army of the Philistines—how could he not? The disparity of military strength—Israel’s 600 vs. the Philistines’ 36,000 chariots and horses plus the foot soldiers—was undeniable. He was not concerned about all the variables in a battle, especially by how much the Israelites were outnumbered by the enemy nation. Why? Because there was one Constant, which was so big that it canceled out all the variables—the almighty God, whom Jonathan trusted. If God was with Israel, no enemy could defeat Israel, no matter how big their army was or how advanced their weapons were: the LORD could still give them victory.

So then, what motivated him to take action was his humble faith in God. What motivated his faith? It seems like the horrible situation he saw all around him activated his faith. That’s what faith is like: when sight darkens, faith awakens; when things get tough, faith gets going. Our world may be crumbling down all around us, but faith directs our gaze upward to our only Hope and Savior. Have you tried to keep a fully inflated ball under the water? The harder you press down, the more it resists and eventually it slips out of your hand and shoots out of the water—the harder you press it down, the higher it goes. So it is with our faith.

What do we prefer—a life of fatal ease or a life of activated faith? It is not that we should despise God’s blessings of ease and comfort. As Paul said, we should learn to be content in whatever situation God places us in, both in abundance and need (Phil. 4:11-12). The problem is what we do with God’s blessings: we often go beyond enjoying them with gratitude to attaching our sense of security and self-worth to them. So, instead of drawing near to God with gratitude for His goodness, we draw away from God in the illusion of self-sufficiency and stop praying or praying only perfunctorily. When God blesses us, we should be even more vigilant against pride.

When God places us in a difficult situation, God is probably calling us to activate our faith in God rather than grumble. “It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few!” Shouldn’t we draw near to God and humbly pray for His wonderful rescue, which will glorify His name and strengthen our faith and hope in Him? Are you in a difficult situation? What will you do in light of today’s meditation?