Doing Hard Things 6/30/09

So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."

9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind.

10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.

1 Sam 30:8-10 (NKJV)

So his armorbearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart."

8 Then Jonathan said, "Very well, let us cross over to these men, and we will show ourselves to them.

9 If they say thus to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them.

10 But if they say thus, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up. For the Lord has delivered them into our hand, and this will be a sign to us."

11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, "Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden."

12 Then the men of the garrison called to Jonathan and his armorbearer, and said, "Come up to us, and we will show you something." Jonathan said to his armorbearer, "Come up after me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hand of Israel."

13 And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and knees with his armorbearer after him; and they fell before Jonathan. And as he came after him, his armorbearer killed them.

14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armorbearer made was about twenty men within about half an acre of land.

15 And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and the raiders also trembled; and the earth quaked, so that it was a very great trembling.

1 Sam 14:7-15 (NKJV)

Last week I read a book named "Do Hard Things; you may have heard of it. In this book, the authors, Brett and Alex Harris encourage people, especially teens, to do hard things for God. But not to get yourself a pat on the back, but instead to do it for God and others, so they can grow in their faith as well.

That was exactly what David and Jonathan were doing. They were convinced that the Lord would deliver their enemies, the Philistines, into their hand. So they boldly went all out for God. Are you all out for God? Is your life daily focused on Him and His word, and how you can better serve others? I have to confess that sometimes mine is not. But the Lord will help us all to grow as we seek Him each day. As Alex and Brett say in their book "It may be hard. But we're rebelutionaries. We do hard things."

If you would like to visit their site, go to the link at the top of the page.