As I read today's Powered by 4 passage in 1 Samuel 14:1-13, I could not help but picture in my head the scene from The Princess Bride where Inego Montoya is standing at the top of the cliffs waiting for Wesley to finish climbing up the cliffs so that he can kill him. When Wesley finally reaches the top, Inego helps him over the edge and then they sit and have a nice conversation about Inego's father while Wesley regains his strength and catches his breath.
How else does a man scramble up a cliff on his hands and feet while his enemies wait for him at the top and then proceed to route over 20 men? Unless he knows something that his enemies don't know. In the sword fight scene from the Princess Bride, both Inego and Wesley know something that the other does not - something they think will give them the upper hand.
Well Jonathan also had a secret. The arrogance of the Philistines was a sure sign form the Lord that He had delivered them into Jonathan's hands. But I still wonder, how did it go down, did they help him over the edge of the cliff, and then allow him to catch his breath because they were so sporting? We may never know.
But what we can know, is that when we face impossible odds. When we are fighting an uphill battle. If God is with us, no one can stand against us. When God calls us to do something, if we do not do it - if we don't follow through on God's leading in our lives. It is first of all a sin (James 4:17). And secondly we are passing up the opportunity to witness God do amazing things in our lives.
Now if only we could make a statement like Jonathan made that would serve as a test and allow us to know for sure what it was that God wanted us to do :) How many of us, given the opportunity to make a statement like that, even if we did get the word "GO" from God, would still find an excuse not to go up against such overwhelming odds?
I'm Moving
12 years ago
3 comments:
Hey Pastor Mike! I really enjoyed the clip you used to make your point. It really made the passage stand out to me in a more real way. Your question has really got me thinking though... I told myself a few weeks ago that "of course I would jump right to whatever God asked of me" that is if I was certain He wanted me to. But now I wonder... am I really so certain? It has given me something to chew on and shed light on a lot of questions that I have about my walk with Him. Thanks for the insight!
Hey again. I just read something that reminded me of my earlier comment... It is from, "I Am Always With You" by Chip Ingram.
Chip was sharing a conversation he had with an athlete named Jerry, that had been shot & paralyzed as a teen. When asked how he keeps going, given all the challenges he faces, this is what he said..."Let's say I had a really hard marathon...but I knew at the beginning of the race that no matter what happened,I was guaranteed to win. No matter how bad the hills were, or whether there was a crash, or how tired I got, I would win. Would I enter the race? Of course. So would you."
If God is telling us to do something than we need to realize that we are being told we cannot lose. When you really get down to it, what excuse can we offer that stands up to that? Something I know I need to remember...
That's good insight Crystal. And it seems like such a simple answer - I mean, if we were guaranteed to win, no matter what, why wouldn't we enter the race, and yet all around us are people that choose not to enter the race, even though they have been guaranteed to win. I don't get it - people either think they can do it better (see "I Did it My Way" posting) or think that it doesn't really matter.
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