While his father Saul was a man lacking in faith, Jonathan was a man who was full of faith, and he showed it in this battle against the Philistines. Without telling his father, he went out to the Philistine outpost. I doubt he was planning to attack at first, but when he was there, he suddenly got the idea to attack. Now normally this would have been fool-hardy, but Jonathan’s reasoning was quite sound,
Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few. (6)
Whether by loyalty or faith, or possibly a combination of both, his armor-bearer replied,
Do all that you have in mind. Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul. (7)
But before they went up, they came up with a plan. While they knew the Lord could help them defeat the Philistines, Jonathan wanted to know if it was truly God’s will. And so he said, “If the Philistines tell us to come up to them, we’ll go, for that means God is with us. But if they say they will come down to us, that means God will not help us.” (9-10)
When they went up, the Philistines saw them and challenged them to come up, and so full of faith, Jonathan and his armor-bearer went up and led the Israelites to a great victory.
I get two things from this. First, when you stand in faith, it doesn’t matter how the odds are stacked against you, God can do great things through you. But when you stand together with others in faith, he can do even greater things.
Christians aren’t meant to stand alone. We’re meant to stand together. Some people think, “I don’t need the church. I’m fine by myself.”
But while you may be “fine” by yourself, you still cannot accomplish as much on your own for God’s kingdom than if you stand together with others. So the question is not, “Am I fine by myself?” The question is, “How much more can I accomplish for God’s kingdom if I stand with others.”
Never forget: A Christian that stands alone with God can do great things. A Christian that stands together with others and God can do even more.
