Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the World English Bible, ebible.org, all rights reserved)

He said to him, “Don’t be afraid, for the hand of Saul my father won’t find you; and you will be king over Israel, and I will be next to you; and Saul my father knows that also.”
1 Samuel 23:17 (emphasis added)

The story of David and Jonathan is one of true friendship love. Saul had been rejected as king over Israel for disobeying and going against the express will of God – more than once. Saul let his fear of his fellow countrymen interfere with his duty to God (1 Samuel 15:24). There were other atrocities like the slaughtering of an entire family of priests (1 Samuel 22:17-19). In between those two events there was a complicated relationship between Saul and David. David saved the army from Goliath. He married Saul’s daughter. He played the harp and soothed Saul’s spirit. Saul tried to spear David to the wall. Saul chased him with hundreds of men, seeking to kill him. David spared Saul’s life and Saul repented. Then Saul tried to kill him again, gave his wife away to another man, and forced David to flee the country. Through it all, Jonathan and David remained fast friends. Their relationship was simple and pure.

Jonathan was the favoured son of Saul. Popular with both the soldiers and the people of Israel, he was next in line to be king. But he loved the Lord. And he loved his friend. It was more important to be true with those two than to be king. He not only was willing to step aside for whomever God anointed to be king, but he actively tried to save David’s life. That’s something special. He KNEW David was chosen. Saul KNEW David was chosen. One man responded with hate. The other with love. Jonathan says he will be ‘next’ to David. He doesn’t mean a second in command, but standing beside him. Mirror images. Copies of each other. In one heart, standing together and serving the Lord.
God gives us friends and supporters in this life. Spouses, friends, teachers, co-workers, and relatives. Sometimes even strangers. We never really know where love and support will come from. It comes from odd places. But when it is inspired of God and rooted in Him, there is none stronger. In one translation Jonathan says Saul will not find David. In another he says Saul won’t even lay a hand on David. There is a lot of meaning in the root words so almost any firm statement is correct. But in modern parlance Jonathan was saying ‘over my dead body’. In spite of what it might cost him. In spite of the fact his own father was behind it all. That is fierce friendship.

Some people are loners on the whole, but even most loners have one friend. We are built for community, not for isolation. We’re created to have people around us. “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him”” (Genesis 2:18). It is not good for us to be alone. This is why God separated Adam into Adam and Eve. Making us male and female. The same principle of alone being bad exists in our friendships. Again and again in scripture you see two people being brought together to work as one. Elijah and Elisha, David and Jonathan, Paul and Barnabas, Moses and Joshua, Paul and Silas, Jeremiah and Baruch. We are not meant to act alone, but to act in concert with one another. “If a man prevails against one who is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). God is a trinity of oneness: Father, Son, and Spirit. We are also meant to be joined together. To fellowship with each other. To be strengthened in Jesus, together: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them”” (Matthew 18:20).

Today, it can seem there is no one to help us. No one to stand beside us. No one willing to stand up for us. The hunt for allies can seem futile. Does anyone make fierce friendships anymore, or are they all fictional driving-off-cliffs-together fairy tales? People now are lucky to stay in touch, much less truly bond. It is one of the side-effects of being in such a technological age. Contacts are easy to collect. We can have hundreds to thousands of them on social media, but how many of those are real friends? We touch base with people all over the globe, but with how many are we truly connected? It is so easy to ghost people. To walk away without any consequences. It has become practise for real life. Much like jumping from dating partner to dating partner is practise for divorce — when the going gets tough, pack it in. The modern world in many ways has forgotten the purity and strength of good friendships.
Jesus hasn’t. He hasn’t changed. The Lord knows our hearts. He is with us always. He sees. He cares. And He sends us help – if we’ll receive it. We’re in a partnership with God over our lives. True teamwork. But He knows us. He knows how we often live in this material world more than in the spiritual. He calls us into friendships to help us with that. To give us a fellow human to partner with in seeking Him. But what if He picks someone we never would? Trust Him. Sometimes we need a friend to help us along and God knows who and what we need better than we do.

God wants us whole, healthy, prosperous, safe, secure, and loved. By Grace, He has done all things for us. By Faith, we need to receive it. All of it. Sometimes we need help with that. Reading the Word always helps. Saying ‘Lord, I believe and I receive your Word. Open my ears to hear it’ helps us ingest it. But it doesn’t always ‘feel’ like enough. I’m not one to slave to my feelings, but I thank God for those He sends to be my support. If nothing else, we need people to worship with. People to stand together with. No man is an island, but no believer is so much as a sandbar. We see in Acts the believers acted together. They prayed together (12:12), sought the Lord together (4:24-31). The next verse (32) is powerful: “The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul.” That level of communion and agreement is exceedingly rare these days. But it goes on: “Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.” That’s fierce friendship too.

There is something special about finding your people. The ones who have your back. Who are with you thick or thin. People who support you and people you can support in turn. Who you wouldn’t deny a thing. Who you care for in every way, each to the other. That’s what the church is supposed to be. Our people. Bonded together in ways the world will never understand. And within the church we often find a person or two who are our ministry partners. Fellow labourers. They can be the usual suspects or strange bedfellows. There is no telling the shape of the puzzle piece you need to connect to. But with God designing the puzzle it is always a good fit. We share the same Spirit (Ephesians 4:4-6) and we exist joined in the same body (1 Corinthians 12:27). Every good thing comes from God. Be it friend or family. Take hold of that support, that love. And don’t let go.

Daily Affirmation of God’s Love: Psalm 147

You know what makes you love God more? His Word. Reading His Word. The psalms are always an easy place to start. Who doesn’t like song lyrics? The disciples didn’t know how to pray. Sometimes we don’t know how to praise. The Psalms are a textbook of praise and calling out to the Lord. If you don’t know what to say, these are great frameworks to get out the feelings you have about the Lord. This particular psalm is an ode to God’s care for the city and symbol of Jerusalem. How the Lord cares for it and lifts it and watches over it. But in Christ, we are co-heirs and sons of God. Every good thing the Lord extends to Jerusalem, won’t He also extend to us? Isn’t how the Lord treats and thinks of Jerusalem the minimum of care that He’ll show for His children? You can’t read this psalm and doubt God’s love for you. Look at the lengths He goes for them. Remember as you read: you were adopted into the family. This applies to you as much as to them. We’re all equal in the sight of the Lord (Acts 10:34-35). You are His beloved. You are a valued and treasured child. In your dark hours, read this and know that He is right there. Arms open. Drawing you in. Today, now, and every day after. You are His.

Your Daily Confession of God’s love to YOU:

Today God loves that I _______.