Assemblies of God Empowered Magazine Kingdom Initiatives | Page 6

EXECUTIVE

LET’S DO SOMETHING: PERHAPS
THE LORD WILL WORK FOR US
1 SAMUEL 14:1-23
By Pastor Mina Acraman,
Executive Presbyter, Senior Pastor,
Crossroads Encounter Fellowship,
Whitianga, Coromandel, NZ

If you don’t know the story, stop
and read it now! In this dramatic event
king Saul’s son Jonathan and his armour
bearer put themselves in life threatening
danger and God used them mightily
to initiate a great victory in battle and
the breaking of the domination of an
oppressive power.
A desire had been born in Israel to
revolt and break off the tyranny of
Philistine rule. King Saul had led the
revolt, but when the enemy turned up
to crush Israel’s desire for freedom, he
could not engage them. He sat under

gathered armies heard all the noise of
this, and the resulting confusion created
panic when an earthquake suddenly
accompanied the battle. Saul’s army
surged forward, others came from their
hiding places and Israelites who were
collaborating with the enemy changed
sides. Israel won the day and God was
glorified in battle. Hallelujah! His people
were set free again.
It’s easy to read this story of heroic
risk taking simply as history and be
entertained by it, but in actuality,
extending the work of the church

“Maybe God will work for us. There's no rule
that says God can only deliver by using a big
army. No one can stop God from saving when
he sets his mind to it.” (1 Sam 14:6 MSG)
a pomegranate tree with 600 willing
but unarmed men. He was a king with
a collapsed kingdom, a pathetic figure.
They had no iron weapons, because the
Philistines had not allowed them to have
blacksmiths; only the King and his son
had the proper weapons.
Jonathan suddenly decided to attack a
Philistine outpost by himself, with only
his armour bearer to help him. They
took the hardest way possible, between
two craggy rock outcrops, one called
slippery, the other called thorny. They
got over the ridge and killed 20 men, the

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often means we are caught between ‘a
slippery rock and a thorny hard place’, or
as some would say; ‘between the devil
and the deep blue sea’. Initiating things
in God’s kingdom will call for moments
where we need tenacity and the kind of
faith and courage that was exercised by
Jonathan and his armour bearer.
What was it that fired up Jonathan’s
courage? First, he was already a man of
action, having killed the local governor
(1 Samuel 13:3-4) and was now following
through on his commitment to change
the situation. His courageous attitude

meant he was prepared to step up and
face a huge army or die in the attempt.
In the words of Benjamin Franklin;
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”
Secondly, Jonathan knew something
that enabled him to see possibilities. He
expressed this when he said:
“Maybe God will work for us. There's no
rule that says God can only deliver by
using a big army. No one can stop God
from saving when he sets his mind to it.”
(1 Sam 14:6 MSG)
The world lies in great darkness.
Without the bright light of the Gospel
bringing hope and salvation the world
will inch closer and closer every day
toward a lost eternity. Without the
power of the work of Calvary billions of
human beings will be lost forever. Let’s
not be found sitting under a tree idle on
the day of battle, for, ‘while unbelief sits,
faith goes’. While Saul was sending for
the ephod to seek guidance, Jonathan
was taking action. Let us use what we
have in our hands now! As Jonathan’s
armour-bearer said; “Do all that is in
your heart. Go then; here I am with you,
according to your heart.” (14:6 NKJV).
Initiate things for God. It’s time to give
it your best shot! Have a go with your
inspired idea, even if you don’t have all
the resources at hand or have figured
out the whole plan. The Lord will confirm
while you are in the process of going to
do it, and may continue to give the green
light to go forward!
How exciting! Let’s go see what
will happen, ‘perhaps the Lord will
work for us’.