God's Amazing Plan For Your Life

Introduction

Today, I’m going to share a story in Scripture that has been challenging me in the way that I engage with my thinking about purpose, calling, destiny.

I want to talk to you about “God’s Amazing Plan For Your Life.”

This is a statement that I’d be hard-pressed to ever use, let alone title a sermon with, but I think without proper explanation, it can paint a false portrait in your mind.

But I’m going to use it today because it speaks to a tension that I’ve felt in my life, and that I believe others have felt as well.

Usually when a statement like that is made, there is a parallel drawn to some hero of faith in Scripture, like David, or Moses, or Esther, how God used common people to do incredible things for his glory.

But I’m going to parallel God’s Amazing Plan For Your Life with a character in the Bible that might not typically be used.

Story of Jonathan, the son of King Saul.

To do that, I’m going to briefly go over the timeline of Jonathan’s life, and I want to provide you with snapshots into Jonathan’s character.

Because it’s going to lead us to this question that I asked, that has given me clarity on God’s amazing plan for my life, and it will speak to yours as well.

Hang on with me, because we’re going to be covering a lot of ground, with portions in 1 Samuel 9 and going all the way to 1 Samuel 31.

Obviously we aren’t going to be reading all of that, so I’m going to summarize a lot and the read key portions of Scripture that are specially relevant to our topic.

Before going into some snapshots of Jonathans life, let me just summarize some key figures and key events that take place in these 23 chapters to help lay the groundwork.

Summary

Four key figures

Samuel: He was a prophet and judge in Israel who plays a crucial role in guiding and advising the Israelites during this period

Saul: He was the first king of Israel, who started out as a promising leader, but his disobedience to God's commands and unrepentance led to his downfall.

David: David was a young shepherd who gained prominence by defeating the giant Goliath and eventually became king after Saul's death. He is one of the most significant figures in the Bible.

Jonathan: He was the son of King Saul and a close friend of David.

These are the key figures, now to explain what is happening in these chapters.

Summary

1 Samuel 9-31 recounts a change in Israel's governance, following their request for a king. It begins with the humble origins of Saul, a chosen king, whom the prophet Samuel anoints.

Saul initially gains popularity by defeating Israel’s enemies, but later disobeys God's commands, resulting in his kingdom being rejected by God.

Amidst conflicts with the Philistines, David rises as a hero by defeating Goliath.

Saul's growing jealousy leads to his pursuit of David, who becomes his son Jonathan's close friend. As Saul's instability deepens, David becomes a fugitive, repeatedly evading Saul's attempts on his life.

The section concludes tragically with the death of Saul and his sons in battle, clearing the path for David to ascend to the throne as Israel's king.

That is a general summary of what is taking place in these chapters.....with that foundation, let’s look at four important snapshots of Jonathan’ life that highlight some of his characteristics.

Story of Jonathan

Jonathan first comes onto the scene in 1 Samuel 13, where he is fighting against the Philistines with his father Saul.

Snapshot 1

In the next chapter (14) it tells the first prominent story of Jonathan in Scripture

Jonathan inspires a mighty defeat of their enemies.

He took his armor bearer, without his Father or the rest of the army knowing,

1 Samuel 14:6 “6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.””

They go up in faith, kill 20 of their enemies, create a panic in the camp of the Philistines.

The Israelites hear this panic and eventually Saul rallies Israel into battle, and it is a great victory for Israel.

Jonathan was a man of faith, courage, and bravery.

Snapshot 2

1 Samuel 18 - Right after David has his famous victory over Goliath

This is where the close friendship of David and Jonathan form.

1 Samuel 18:3-9 3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. 4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

Some scholars say this act might have symbolized Jonathan transferring the kingdom to David.

There seems to be a recognition of God’s hand and plan for David.

5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. 7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” 8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.”

Saul was envious, jealous, spiteful.

Jonathan celebrated the success of others

Jonathan is a man of Humility

Snapshot 3

Saul is having a conversation with his son Jonathan.

1 Samuel 20:31-33 “31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom shall be established. Therefore send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.” 32 Then Jonathan answered Saul his father, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 But Saul hurled his spear at him to strike him. So Jonathan knew that his father was determined to put David to death.”

Jonathan is a man of Selflessness and Integrity

Snapshot 4

1 Samuel 31:1-2 “1 Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.”

As flawed as Saul was, he was the one God had anointed King.

Even though Jonathan was serving under a toxic king, a bad leader, he still, to the very end, submitted to the fact that God had made his father King over Israel.

He continued to serve under him, as they fought God’s enemies, even to his own death.

Jonathan was a man of Loyalty and Submission

Even up until death.

Tension

So over the course of these chapters, we get snapshots into the type of person Jonathan is, and you can see his character contrasted with that of his father’s.

Saul vs. Jonathan

Saul was fearful and faithless, Jonathan was brave and faithful.

Saul was jealous and spiteful, Jonathan was selfless and encouraging.

Saul was rash and disobedient, Jonathan was submissive and loyal.

Jonathan is every bit the man that his father Saul should have been.

And Jonathan would have been the king his father should have been. yet.....

W all know that, not Jonathan, but David is made king.

This is the question I got stuck with......Why not Jonathan?

Jonathan had all the attributes of a Godly king.

He was brave, faithful, selfless, humble, loyal, submissive to authority, a man of integrity.

He exemplified traits of being a man after God’s heart.

He was everything his father should have been. He was everything you could have asked for in a king.

Why not Jonathan?

You might say its because God was completely taking the kingship away from Saul by even removing it from his family line.

But at the end of the day, really the only answer to the question of “why not Jonathan?” is “Because God chose David.”

Here is what really spoke to me in this story.

Even though Jonathan had every good characteristic of a king, God chose David, and David goes on to be one of the most influential and recognizable persons in Scripture.

Davids life is mentioned as one of the heroes of faith in Hebrews 11.

Most non-Christians know the story of David and Goliath.

And Jonathan’s life kind of ends up in the shadows.

It ended tragically too soon, and you don’t hear much more about Jonathan after his death.

Obviously, Jonathan has more notoriety than the average person because we read about him in the pages of Scripture, but his life is a whisper compared to the attention David gets.

There is something in Jonathan that I resonate with.

Typically as we or at least I read through the narrative of Scripture, I have identified with the great heroes of faith.

David, Moses, Deborah, Esther, Noah, etc....

And we should identify with them, because there is much in their stories that resonate with us.

Whether it’s God taking David, who was a nobody shepherd and making him king.

God taking Moses, who was a fearful stutter, and making him His voice for the children of Israel as he led them in deliverance out of Egypt.

God using Esther, a simple Jewish girl to turn the heart of a pagan king and bring salvation to her people.

Their stories connect with us, because they were simple people who God in his providence and sovereignty chose to use in mighty ways.

They inspire us to trust and believe God for whatever His will is in our lives, even if it seems and feels impossible.

And that’s a good thing, and it should inspire and encourage us.

But here is what I resonate with in Jonathan’s story, and what captivated me.

For every David story, there are thousands of Jonathan stories.

In other words, for every story of a man or woman used loudly by God (David Wilkersons, Billy Grahams, Corrie Ten Booms) there are thousands of men and women God uses with a whisper.

Their lives won’t be marked with grandiosity.

Their stories won’t be the ones told for generations.

They won’t have books written about their life.

Their names will only be remembered on a gravestone.

But their faithfulness and impact have been marked in heaven.

I believe that God does have an amazing plan for every person’ life in this room.

But what if that amazing plan is a whisper?

Is better measured by our faithfulness in what we do, rather than the greatness of the results of what we do?

Eugene Peterson Story

Eugene Peterson, a minister and theologian best known for his work The Message translation of the Bible, tells a story in his biography that exemplifies this principle perfectly today.

In his biography he recounts a story that took place in his early 20’s....he is finishing up his second year at a Christian University, and travels back home to Montana and said that he didn’t know why, but he “felt dead inside.” (soul was withering)

He went to his Pastor with these feelings, but stopped going after a couple times because he felt the pastor just wasn’t listening to him.

Next he went to “Brother Ned,” a very saintly figure in his church, and brother Ned would expound on the Bible. But Eugene said he would just do all the talking, and it was boring.

Then a friend suggested he talk to a man named Reuben Lance, and I want to read some snippets out the book.

Book Snippets

“Reuben carried his burly frame and surly disposition onto every jobsite: plumbing, carpentry, masonry, and electrical. Reuben could fix anything and could beat most any man into the dust; he was the kind of man you wanted on your side when you confronted hooligans in a dark alley. Reuben was not a man you went to with an aching heart. Eugene approached Reuben and nervously explained what he was feeling. Could he talk with Reuben? Reuben’s answer was brisk. “If that’s what you want. Meet me in the church basement after supper on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

Reuben Lance, the man who “never smiled… never prayed aloud in church…[ and] was scornful of most of what passed for religion” became Eugene’s first spiritual director. For the remaining weeks of that summer, they met twice a week. No pious language. No heavy theology. “He just talked to me. He treated me like a person. And when I got back to school, I was different.”

It would be years before Eugene could describe what he had experienced that summer with Reuben.

During seminary, Eugene wrote the story of his relationship with Reuben, describing how an unsophisticated man with no formal theological training, who talked to Eugene mostly about “everyday stuff—tools, work, landscape, school,” had such a massive impact. Reuben simply listened and treated Eugene with dignity. Reuben never viewed Eugene as an “opportunity for ministry” but welcomed him with a “stance of wonderment.”

Decades later, Eugene’s brother-in-law, who knew Reuben, gave Eugene Reuben’s contact information. Eugene dialed the number, and Reuben, then in his eighties, answered. Eugene explained to Reuben his profound influence, with only long silence coming from the other end of the line.

Eventually, Reuben’s frail voice broke the stillness. “You know, I’m just sitting here in my bed. I’m very ill and can’t do much. And you’re telling me that those Thursday nights at the church changed your life? No one’s ever said anything like that to me before. They liked me to fix things for them. But they never seemed to want me for much more than that.” Then Reuben cried.”

Tens of millions of people are familiar with the name Eugene Peterson, or at least familiar with his works.

Next to no-one knew the name Reuben Lance.

His life wasn’t marked by great results, but it was marked by faithfulness and stewardship.

Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 25 conveying the importance of stewardship and faithfulness.

Parable of Talents

In the parable, a wealthy man entrusts three of his servants with his property, while he goes away on a long journey.

He gives one servant 5 talents

He gives another servant 2 talents

He gives the last servant 1 talent

Some scholars say that a talent was equivalent to about 20 years worth of wages

The servants with 5 and 2 talents invest what they have been given and double it, and the servant with 1 talent hides the money away out of fear.

So when the master comes back the servant that was given 5 talents produces 10 talents, and the servant with 2 talents produces 4.

But notice what the master says to the men who stewarded the talents well......I want to see if you can spot the difference:

Man with 5 talents

Matthew 25:21“21‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

Man with 2 talents

Matthew 25:23 “23 ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

Did you spot the difference? Let me read it one more time.

T rick question....there is no difference....and that is important.

I love what the Faith Life Study Bible says, “Faithful stewardship pleases the master more than the actual return on his investment.”

Both servants doubled their profit, but in raw numbers, the first servant yielded more than 2x as much as the second servant, but they were both told the same thing.

Because, “Faithful stewardship pleases the master more than the actual return on his investment.”

Jonathan entered into heaven to the same words David did.

Reuben entered into heaven to the same words Eugene did.

Conclusion

You’ve heard it said, “Be faithful in the little things, and God will give you responsibility in greater things.”

Perhaps you view God’s amazing plan for your life as the arrival of that greater responsibility that comes from your faithfulness with little.

What if that greater responsibility comes and goes unnoticed?

Jonathan was faithful in the little, so God gave him greater responsibility, not by making him king, but by bringing a king into his life who needed a faithful companion.

David may not have made it to the throne if not for Jonathan.

Reuben was faithful in the little, so God have him greater responsibility, not by making him a pastor, but by bringing a pastor of a generation to him so that he could minister to his life in a time when he desperately needed it.

There is a lot out there encouraging the David’s of our generation to step out in faith and walk in God’s calling. And we need that.

But there are many Jonathan’s out there that need to be encouraged to live free from the pressure and regret of not living out David’s calling.

Jonathan’s father told him he will be king. The army of Israel expected him to be king. The prevailing norms and customs of that era said it was Jonathan’s right to be a king. Jonathan had everything it took to be king.

Yet God said, “David is to be king.”

And Jonathan walked in his lane in faithfulness and integrity, and the world is better because of it.

And his story might not come with the same grandiosity as David’s but in heavens metrics, it matters just as much.

Personal connection

Maybe you have felt like your life is insignificant.....that it should be more.....that you missed God’s will or plan for your life because it’s not what others thought it would be, or what you thought it would be.

You say:

I just work at the factory down the road.

Work and commit as though God is your boss, and not the toxic manager that you dread seeing every day.

I just stay at home raising the kids.

Raise your kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Show them by your actions what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

I’m just getting ready to go back to school.

The study with purpose and fervor.

Be the student who won’t allow anybody to sit by themselves in the corner of the lunch room.

I’m just a pastor of small country church.

Then shepherd that community with patience and endurance whether the pews fill to capacity or not.

Walk in your lane with faithfulness and integrity.

If you are living out the great commission (making disciples) in your context.

If you are living your life loving God fully, and loving others

If you are always striving to walk in the Spirit, by exemplifying His fruits in your life and staying sensitive to his leading....

I’m telling you.....God’s amazing plan for your life does not have to be a future event.

It starts today.

Understanding this is important.

If your real ministry, your real calling, God’s real plan for you, is always a future event, it’s hard to live invested in the present.

Because the present is downplayed to a future that may never come.......Because God didn’t ask you to be a king.

Maybe God’s plan is not that you change lanes, but that you continue to steward the lane you’re in well.

Or some of you maybe need to be challenged to steward the lane you’re in rather than waiting for it to change.

If I’m honest, this is a tension that ebbs and flows in my life and ministry.

I get times when I feel like my life should be more.

That I should be more accomplished by now, have greater results.

I never know what the “more” is, just that it should be here by now.

And as I daydream about what the more could or should be, I sacrifice the present on the alter of an idea of the future.

Conclusion

God has an amazing plan for you life

It may be loud, it may be a whisper

It might produce 5 talents, it might produce 2 talents

It may make you a famous king, it may make you a forgotten prince.

It might make you a pastor of a generation, or it might make you an overlooked handyman.

Either way......your story matters in the kingdom of God, because God has placed the primary significance on the stewardship of your context, rather than the amount of return on investment.

Walk in your context in faithfulness and integrity.

You may be there the rest of your life, or God may call you to something else.

Either way, God has an amazing plan for your life.

Sources:

http://westoakschurchofchrist.com/articles/2020/03/26/the-king-who-wasnt-the-story-of-jonathan