Make Your Move

“Perhaps the Lord will work for us.  For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or be few."

1 Sam. 14:6

 

The story of Jonathan has always inspired me.  There is guts, grit, courage, and adventure!  For the past month or so I've been wondering about his intimacy he must of had with God.  We don't know a lot about Jonathan's time with God, how he prayed, studied, worshiped, etc. But there must have been depth to his faith to say, "Perhaps the Lord will work for us, for nothing can restrain the Lord."  Certainly Jonathan heard as a boy the stories of old on how God rescued His people and delivered them from their enemies on countless occasions.  Jonathan is not a boy any more and he is about to attack an enemy that greatly outnumbers them and he has no plan of retreat or reinforcements.  In our human perspective, it's a terrible battle plan. 

There is a difference between believing something and actually knowing it.  Perhaps the majority of Jonathan's life he merely believed the stories of the great I AM, but now as a young man he needed to make his move.  Belief was about to transform into known experience.  He would no longer believe that God is a mighty warrior, he would experience it first hand.  Regardless of how the battle would turn out though, Jonathan was going to make his gutsy move with the confidence that the Lord can come through in any circumstances.  Nothing restrains the Lord.

There are times in all of our lives in which we need to make a move.  You've heard the stories and you sing the songs, but a gutsy decision, a step of faith, needs to occur.  "For nothing restrains the Lord..." Do you know this to be true? To know is to have first hand experience of it.  To have that first hand experience, you at times, like Jonathan, need to climb a couple mountains and address the enemy that's been holding you down.  Do you really believe that anxiety, depression, bitterness, hate, and evil can restrain the Lord?  Then make your move.  You need joy again?  Get your worship back.  Need healing in your marriage and other relationships? Ask for forgiveness and give it freely. Get out of the shade (1 Sam. 14:2), address the issues, and start living like we say we believe.  Is it risky? Yes.  But it's in these bold moves of faith that we can begin to know that nothing restrains the Lord.