SAMUEL: Pick a Fight

Trusting God seems like a risky proposition. It seems better to only trust yourself and what you can control. But scripture teaches that is not what faith looks like. Israel is threatened by a massive enemy. King Saul is in a cave, but his son Jonathon picks a fight armed with not much more than his faith in God. Jonathan courageously kicks off a battle believing that perhaps God might intervene because nothing can hinder God working to achieve the impossible. As the story unfolds, God does intervene through an earthquake and the enemy is routed. But Saul demonstrates faithlessness by nearly ruining the day with his actions. First he’s hiding, then he hesitates, then tries to manipulate the situation with control. Failing to follow God’s command comes up with a command of his own, issuing a rash oath for his own glory. The result is that it hampers the battle and almost costs Jonathon’s life. The passage ends by acknowledging Saul’s subsequent man-made victories, but poignantly reveals it was only due to the fact that he attached himself to valiant men. The message for us is that the kind of faith that pleases God is when we act under the “assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” [He 11] Faith is trusting God and taking risks. That is the faith God rewards and by which we’re saved.