Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng
Jeremiah spells out these blessings reserved for those who put their confidence in God saying, "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8
While it may feel intimidating to take a step out in faith, not knowing what will come of it, the verses above prove stepping out in faith will always bring blessings. We can rest assured that whatever it costs us to step out in faith, will always pale in comparison to the blessings God has in store for us, whether He works in a way we hoped for or not.
King Saul’s son Jonathan had the utmost faith in God. He was fed up with the Philistines continually oppressing his people, the Israelites. Though the Philistines greatly outnumbered the Israelites, and had superior weaponry, Jonathan knew something needed to be done, and the sooner the better. So Jonathan suggested to his armor bearer that they go over to the Philistine camp and attack them.
It was a given that the odds were greatly against them, however, Jonathan reasoned, “Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6) Jonathan was confident that God could wipe out the Philistines whether they were attacked by two Israelites or twenty thousand. God was able to take out the Philistines regardless of how many Israelites fought against them. It didn’t matter that the odds were against Israel. God was bigger than the odds, and He was for Israel, so if anyone was outnumbered it was the Philistines.
Chuck Smith exclaims, “I love this logic. God doesn’t need people at all, so if He is for us, He doesn’t need the whole army to win His battles. It’s no problem for God to work with many or with few. We just need God to work.”1
The only way we can know if God wants to do a work, is by taking a step of faith. Notice that Jonathan and his armor bearer showed themselves to the Philistines before they received confirmation from the Lord that they were to fight them. To know for sure if God wanted to use them to take out the Philistines, Jonathan told his armor bearer, "Come, then; we will cross over toward the men and let them see us. If they say to us, 'Wait there until we come to you,' we will stay where we are and not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' we will climb up, because that will be our sign that the LORD has given them into our hands." (1 Samuel 14:8-10)
As soon as the Philistines called to Jonathan and his armor bearer, "Come up to us and we'll teach you a lesson." Jonathan had no doubt God was going to miraculously give him and his armor bearer the victory. And sure enough, just as Jonathan believed, God used Jonathan and his armor bearer to wipe out an impressive number of Philistines.
Regarding Jonathan stepping out in faith, Chuck Smith goes on to say, “To me that is exciting, and I do it all the time. I step out in faith to see what God might want to do. I love it. Sometimes I find out that God doesn’t want to do something. That’s all right, too. But there are those times when God does want to do something exciting; and I love making myself available, just in case it is one of those times.”
What are you up against today? Are you feeling discouraged by the odds against you? Prayerfully consider taking a step out in faith today, trusting God to do an amazing work in your circumstances. Whether God does a work or not, at least by stepping out in faith, you might just witness one of those times when God wants to do an amazing work in your circumstances. With God for you, what have you got to lose?
1. Smith, Chuck. The Word For Today Bible, © 2005 Thomas Nelson, pg. 367.
Copyright © 2010 Brooke Espinoza.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to share. May God bless you richly!