IT MAY BE
“And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few. And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.” I Samuel 14:6, 7
The Philistines were perpetual enemies to the Israelites and were gathering to make an assault on the people of God. At this time, Saul was the king of Israel. Jonathan, the son of Saul, decided to attack a garrison of the Philistines, believing that if God were in it, He would give the victory. The words in our text, “it may be,” reveal the faith and dependence Jonathan was placing in the Lord. God gave a tremendous victory as Jonathan and his armorbearer slaughtered the enemy.
There are several things about this great exploit that deserve our attention. One has to be impressed with the bravery of Jonathan. With only the assistance of his armorbearer, he was willing to advance against a much larger number of soldiers. We too are in a spiritual battle, and we often see how outnumbered we are in this fight. However God would have us to be brave, to be strong in the Lord. We need Christians who are not ashamed of Jesus and are not afraid of the enemies of the Lord.
Jonathan told his armorbearer, “there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” Numbers do not limit God. As a matter of fact, He often chooses to work in a special way when His people are greatly outnumbered. In the case of Gideon, God reduced the size of his army before they were allowed to engage in combat. The victory does not depend upon the number of people on our side as much as the fact that God is on our side.
Not only did Jonathan exhibit great bravery, but He also had sincere faith in His God. He knew that victory was possible if the Lord was working for him, and he expected the same. He was firmly convinced that God was for Israel; therefore, he would rely upon God for the outcome. After Jonathan challenged his armorbearer to join him in the battle, the armorbearer said, “I am with thee according to thy heart.” This is an example of how our faith encourages others. Sometimes there are those who are willing to follow and believe God for victories, but they need someone to step out and say, “It may be.”