1 Samuel 14:8-15 - Be open to God and experience His victory

Full of faith, Jonathan decided to move forward. But he did not presume on God. In whatever act of faith, we need to take, there must be receptivity and the element of being open to God to change the course that we have set on. This was what happened here, faith is holding to one’s plan lightly and yet open to the direction of God should change be warranted. He knew that God could change it to a better strategy. So Jonathan told the armor-bearer that the Lord will work for them. Faith is holding gently to the conviction one has and yet open to what God can do to change the plan. This was what was lacking in Saul. That’s the reason why he waited to act only when the circumstances seemed perfect. With that mentality, one will not act. That’s why in the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 11:3-4  Solomon reminds us that, “He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap. Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things.” Faith in God requires that we act according to His prompting.

The plan of Jonathan was to test the resolve of the Philistines. He said to his armor-bearer that when they confronted the Philistines, “…if they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us.” When they revealed themselves, the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden.” And God granted Jonathan and his armor-bearer a great victory. Just two men and they slaughtered 20 men of the Philistines and brought great panic to the camp. There is no telling what God can do if we are willing to move in tandem with His leading. A small force should not be a hindrance to our progress in the work of the Kingdom.  What we need is faith and openness to what God can do!