1 Samuel 14:7-12: a reflection

7His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Go, and behold, I am with you according to your heart.” 8Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. 9If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place and will not go up to them. 10But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up, for the LORD has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.” 11Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” 12The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”

Before Jonathan steps out in his bold act of faith against the Philistine garrison, his armor-bearer speaks words every venturer of faith longs to hear: Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish; I am with you, heart and soul. Jonathan is about to attempt something risky and uncertain, and beside him stands one companion who pledges his complete, wholehearted support: whatever you decide, I am with you.

Notice the gift of that loyalty. Jonathan does not have an army; he has one companion. But that companion is with him heart and soul, fully committed, ready to follow wherever Jonathan leads. It is the kind of support that makes bold faith possible, a loyal presence at your side who backs you completely, who says, I am with you, and means it. Jonathan's daring venture rested, humanly speaking, on having one person wholly with him.

That points to two things worth valuing. First, the gift of such companions in our own lives, the people who are with us heart and soul, whose loyal support strengthens us to attempt what God calls us to. Thank God for them, and do not take them for granted. Second, the call to be such a person for others, to stand beside those venturing in faith and say, with the armor-bearer, I am with you, heart and soul. Bold faith is often sustained by a faithful companion. Be that companion for someone, and cherish those who are it for you.

Lord, before Jonathan's bold venture, his armor-bearer pledged, I am with you, heart and soul, and that loyal support made daring faith possible. Thank you for the companions in my own life who stand with me wholeheartedly; help me not to take them for granted. And make me such a companion for others, standing beside those venturing in faith with a faithful, wholehearted, I am with you. Sustain bold faith through faithful friends.