Climb the Mountain

Good morning friends.

   I've read 1 Samuel 14 many times, but this morning I saw something I had never really paid attention to before.

    This chapter is famous for Jonathan's faith.

He's the one who says "Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."

He's the one who climbs the mountain.

He's the one who trusts God when nobody else seems willing to move.

He's the one God uses to bring victory.

    But this morning I couldn't stop noticing the relationship between Jonathan and Saul. Almost every obstacle Jonathan faces comes from his own father.

Saul is fearful but Jonathan is faithful.

Saul creates burdens but Jonathan carries them.

Saul makes a foolish vow and Jonathan pays the price for it.

    Saul almost destroys the very person God is using. Some of us know what it's like to spend years navigating wounds, fears, insecurities, and decisions that weren't ours. Some of us have spent a lifetime carrying the weight of a parent's struggles. And if we're not careful, we can spend so much time focusing on Saul that we miss the heart of Jonathan.

   Jonathan could have become bitter. He could have become angry. He could have spent his life blaming his father for everything that was unfair. Instead, he kept following God.

   That's what I love about him. Jonathan didn't let someone else's dysfunction determine his destiny. He didn't allow another person's fear to become his identity. He didn't stop climbing because someone else was sitting under a tree.

    That's a word for somebody this morning. I know it was for me.

   You are not responsible for the choices other people made. You are not called to carry every burden they created. You are not destined to repeat every cycle you came from.

   Jonathan's story reminds us that it is possible to grow up under a Saul and still become a Jonathan. It is possible to be surrounded by fear and still choose faith. It is possible to come from dysfunction and still walk in obedience.

             It is possible to break the cycle!

That's what I see in this chapter.

    Not just a story about victory over the Philistines. Its a story about a man who refused to let someone else's brokenness define who he would become.

    So today, don't focus on the Saul in your story. Focus on the Jonathan God is calling you to become.

Climb the mountain.

Trust God.

And remember... 

"Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few." ❤️

   And if you get a chance listen to this song today. It really ministered to me this morning.

https://youtu.be/nGq-zyx7CWM?si=bzfIK2MmIn2ZJhur

"There's what I want, and then there's where I'm at

Every one step forward, got me five steps back

And I cried, I called, God knows I prayed

But most days, faith is climbing up a mountain that stayed"

Love Pastor Mandy

Ark of Hope Ministry 

Daily reading 1 Samuel 14