𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠 𝗨𝗣

• When a challenge arises, do you usually face it head on or do you approach it cautiously? Why?

• When you and the majority of your peers don’t have the same values or beliefs, how do you respond?

• 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.

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗

𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳, “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘸.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟲-𝟳

(Read also 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟭-𝟮𝟯.)

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 Saul’s 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 13:2–7). As a result, everyone ran away in fear, except Jonathan and his armor-bearer. Today, let’s look at their faith in God’s power, their confidence to go and fight anyway to lead Israel to victory, and the lessons we can learn from them.

𝟭. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝘁.

𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳, “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘸.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮, “𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵. 𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩. 𝘉𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭.” 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟲-𝟳

(Read also 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟮,𝟭𝟭.)

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 couldn’t do what you needed to because of fear and doubt. How did God restore your confidence and faith in Him?

𝟮. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.” 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳, “𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘰𝘳-𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟭𝟮-𝟭𝟯

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, God’s good, pleasing, and perfect plan for our lives will always prevail. How has God shown you that He is fighting with and for you?

𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘖𝘙𝘋 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘉𝘦𝘵𝘩-𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯. 𝟭 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗨𝗘𝗟 𝟭𝟰:𝟮𝟯

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 faith—until we see victory.

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• 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?

• Are there areas in your life that seem overwhelming? How can you respond in faith today?

• Do you know anyone who is struggling with an uphill battle? How may you be an encouragement to that person this week?

𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.