I Samuel 14:6-7 – With faith, Nothing is insurmountable

Hear the words of Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14:6. He said to his armor-bearer, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.” Shouldn’t it be Saul who should have said these words? Yes, we all expect a God-ordained king to be the one to have the confidence. But he was somewhere resting and not acting as he ought to. Here was his son who was making more sense. Jonathan had more trust in the Lord than his father. His exact words were, “…the Lord will work for us, for the Lord is not restrained to save by many or by few.” These are not words of a person who had left God out of the equation. Besides, he called the Philistines, the uncircumcised. In other words, he still recognized that they, the people of Israel were God’s covenant people.

Here’s a loose paraphrase of Jonathan’s words. “God has no equal. The number of people He could deal with is inconsequential. Whether it is few or many that He would be confronted with makes no difference. He simply has the ability and He is completely trustworthy.” These are words of abiding trust. God would want that of us,  more so with people whom He had raised to lead, to have such unflinching trust. Just imagine if only Saul and the rest of the 600 had such audacious faith. There would be no telling what God could accomplish through them. It’s not the size of ability but the size of our God that should be where our confidence comes from. Have this indelibly written in our hearts and on our minds, when we have God, there will be no problem that we cannot surmount.

The armor-bearer Jonathan had with him would also be the kind of companion we surely would like to have in facing tough situations. He was equally trusting of the LORD. He echoed the words of Jonathan and said, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire.” Dear fellow believers, we are not only fellow sojourners in the journey with God, but we are also His fellow workers in the business of advancing His business. When we have the same mindset and same bravery, what can prevent us from being the greatest force the world and our enemy will ever know? We ought to have the same kingdom mindset when it comes to the business of the Kingdom. Remember one shall put a thousand to flight, and two, ten thousand!  

Jonathan and his armor-bearer’s kind of trust in God should be common among people who have faith in God. We should not presume on God but we will not flinch when it comes to trusting God. Jesus’ word to us is still, “With God all things are possible” and also “nothing is impossible to those who believe.” Let’s develop this kind of possessive faith in God!