Unquestionably, one of my favorite moments in the Bible is found
in 1 Samuel 14.
Let me describe the situation. King Saul was camped under a
pomegranate tree with 600 men while a garrison of the Philistine army secured a
nearby pass. It was a tense
moment; but unexpectedly, Saul’s son, Jonathan, turned to his young armor
bearer and said, ““Come, let’s go over to
the outpost of those uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will act in our
behalf.”
Now here’s why this is such a crazy moment: They were
outnumbered, outmaneuvered, out-positioned and outgunned. Well…it was actually
swords not guns, but you get the picture. Despite all of that, they end up
going anyway.
Ask any military leader, tactician or strategist and they
will all tell you this was a bad idea from start to finish for a number of
reasons. First, a defending force
always has the advantage. Second, a battle on varied terrain always gives the
force on higher elevation a distinct advantage. Third, attacking a larger force
is always a disadvantage. In fact, military strategists say attackers should generally
outnumber defenders at least 3 to 1, but Jonathan & his servant were
outnumbered at least 10 to 1. Ludicrous! Finally, if you read the previous
chapter, you’ll see there were only two swords among the entire Israelite
army. Saul had one and Jonathan
had the other. Everyone else had tools like plow points, mattocks, axes and
sickles.
Well, needless to say from a human perspective, what
Jonathan sought to do was at best unrealistic and more likely absurd. It was an inevitable and pointless
loss, and anyone with common sense would have expected Jonathan and his armor
bearer to die on that hillside. But
God isn’t limited to our expectations, and they didn’t die! They attacked a larger, defending force
uphill with one sword; and they defeated 20 Philistine warriors. Unbelievable!
I love a number of things about this story. I love the faith and courage of
Jonathan. I love the loyalty and trust of the armor bearer, but what I love
most is the absolute impossibility of it. It was an impractical endeavor that
would certainly fail unless God showed up, and that is exactly what He did! As
a result, it mobilized the Israelite army, produced a great victory and even
led to a cool reconciliation among God’s people.
Far too often we, limit ourselves to the possible. We work
toward things that we can accomplish…even things for God. That often then leads
us to lower expectations, modify goals and shrink from opportunity…especially
the God-sized ones. T.S. Eliot once said, “Only those who will
risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
We may think we honor God with cautious “stewardship,” but
we often don’t. We actually end up
waiting under the pomegranate tree, and we miss the miraculous.
This past year, we sought live out the truth that we are rescued
to rescue and reach the 236,000 people within our region that do not
yet know Jesus. Reaching them is a God-sized task, which means we’re called to
journey outnumbered, outmaneuvered, out-positioned and outgunned. It’s an unrealistic task; but one the Lord has
positioned SLW to do. “Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf.”
As a church family, we’ve been privileged to see God act on
our behalf this past year. We again saw our weekend attendance reach over
700. We witnessed 26 people step
into the waters of Baptism, and we celebrated 225 people making decisions for
Jesus! God did great things.
As cool as that is, SLW is not yet done. There are more hills to take for more
people to know Jesus; and in this season of transition, it is increasingly
important to remain in a forward leaning posture like Jonathan with the same
faith and courage to risk.
Scripture tells us the Lord saved Israel on that day in 1
Samuel 14, but it was not the end. In fact, it says, “So
the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven.” [1
Samuel 14:23] Notice the Lord brought victory, and then the battle
advanced. The mission continued.
In the coming year, SLW will be positioned to do incredible things;
and it is my prayer that the Lord will find His people boldly advancing boldly toward
reaching the region expecting Him to act on their behalf.
Keep pressing on.
Pastor Shawn
“Have I not commanded
you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the
Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9
