๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข When a challenge arises, do you usually face it head on or do you approach it cautiously? Why?
โข When you and the majority of your peers donโt have the same values or beliefs, how do you respond?ย
โข What do you do when you have fears or doubts? Do you try to solve them alone or do you ask for help? Recall an instance explaining this.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ.โ ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฒ-๐ณ
(Read also ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ญ-๐ฎ๐ฏ.)
Israel has had a history of conflict with other peoples, one of them being the Philistines. In this story, a large army of Philistines were fighting them on their territory. King Saulโs son Jonathan and his men had defeated their troup at Geba, and as a result, the Philistines retaliated with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen and troops, outnumbering the people of God (1 Samuel 13:2โ7). As a result, everyone ran away in fear, except Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Today, letโs look at their faith in Godโs power, their confidence to go and fight anyway to lead Israel to victory, and the lessons we can learn from them.
๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐๐ฏ๐.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ช๐ณ๐ค๐ถ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ธ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ ๐ข๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ.โ ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฒ-๐ณ
(Read also ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ,๐ญ๐ญ.)
While Saul and his men were terrified and keeping a safe distance from the Philistines, Jonathan and his armor-bearer had faith in God and His power. Instead of cowering in fear and doubt, they boldly approached the enemy camp. When facts put our faith into question, God invites us to place our confidence in Him so that we can experience His power and freedom. Recall a time when you couldnโt do what you needed to because of fear and doubt. How did God restore your confidence and faith in Him?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐บ๐ถ๐ฑ๐๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ-๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.ย ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฎ-๐ญ๐ฏ
After seeing the two Israelites, the Philistines told them to come up to the camp. They were confident in their numbers and in being on higher ground. But Jonathan and his armor-bearer knew that God was on their side. As soon as they arrived, they easily defeated twenty men, which caused panic and confusion in the enemy camp. Though Jonathan and his armor-bearer were outnumbered, they knew that nothing was impossible with God. Even when the odds seem to be against us, Godโs good, pleasing, and perfect plan for our lives will always prevail. How has God shown you that He is fighting with and for you?
๐๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ-๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ.ย ๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ:๐ฎ๐ฏ
Dealing with fear and doubt is normal. When facts are thrown at us, it may seem easier to give in. But even in doubt, we can take steps of faith, no matter how small they may be. May we allow God to remove fear and doubt from our hearts and minds as we see how powerful He is to save, so that we may persevere in faithโuntil we see victory.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Most of the time, doubt is a battle in the mind, while fear is of the heart. What are some practical ways you can overcome these on a daily basis?
โข Are there areas in your life that seem overwhelming? How can you respond in faith today?
โข Do you know anyone who is struggling with an uphill battle? How may you be an encouragement to that person this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God that through Him, all things are possible. Thank Him that we can put our faith in Him, our source of confidence and assurance.
โข Ask God to quiet your fears and doubts so that you may hear His voice more and trust in His ways. Pray that you would not rely on your own abilities but on God and His word.
โข Pray that God would use you as a testimony to others of being in faith, not fear. Pray that your life would point people to God.