What Can Restrain the Lord?

WHAT RESTRAINS THE LORD?

(NKJV) — 6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore 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 restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.” 7 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.”

"Faster than a speeding bullet!

Superman. We all know him. The man of steel.

"Faster than a speeding bullet!

More powerful than a locomotive!

Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"

"Look! Up in the sky!"

"It's a bird!"

"It's a plane!"

"It's Superman!"

"Yes, it's Superman – strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.

Superman – defender of law and order.

Champion of equal rights, valiant, courageous fighter against the forces of hate and prejudice, who disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way."

Superman. We all know him. The man of steel. The archetype of the comic book hero and a defining cinematic figure for generations. From the outside, there is nothing that Superman cannot do - no foe is strong enough to defeat him. Yet, for all his incredible feats, Superman becomes a mere mortal in the presence of kryptonite, losing all his incredible abilities.

Now of course, we aren’t here today to talk about a fictional character. Rather, our talk is set at the intersection of revelation and reality. You see, the God who is revealed in Scripture is worshipped above all because He knows all, is everywhere and is able to do all things. That’s is what we find revealed about God. Yet, the reality is a little different in our lives. For all that we preach, in practical terms, we don’t see God healing all people, raising all the dead, answering all our prayers - God doesn’t seem to do what we want to do.

It’s a source of angst among believers and a stumbling block to those who don’t know Jesus. What possible reasons could there be for an all powerful God not to exercise all power in answer to our prayers? Is there some type of spiritual kryptonite that renders God powerless to act in answer to our prayers? Maybe our scripture reading today in has something to say on the matter. Without equivocation, Jonathan - our passage’s hero - declares that if there is some spiritual kryptonite, it certainly isn’t numbers. God can work through a few or through a multitude. So if you think that the reason God’s miracles aren’t manifested in your life, personally or corporately, is because God is waiting for some critical mass - you would be wrong. God isn’t restrained by numbers. So what really acts as spiritual kryptonite in our life history with God?

When our imagination runs wild on the theme of God’s faithfulness, maybe we can ask the question that Jonathan asked. Jonathan thought, what might God work with us on knowing that God’s power to deliver is limitless? In that question is a mixture of the confidence of knowledge with the uncertainty of faith. Here is a combination of the certainty of what God can do mingled with the imagination of what God could do. Since God isn’t inhibited by circumstances, then could He work with our limited resources?

When we study scripture, we see that God takes pride in making something out of nothing. God is excited about feeding a multitude with meager supplies. God loves the challenge of defeating superior enemies with inferior tools, a simple staff or the decaying remnants of a donkey’s jawbone. God relishes using ignorant fishermen to share the transformative power of the Gospel. And God relies on the incredulous witness of unreliable women to testify to the miracle of His resurrection. God takes pride in making something out of nothing. In fact, what would be a liability for us is really an asset for God because God delights in using underdogs to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

The question that spurred Jonathan’s recklessly daring action was, If God is limitless in power to save, then it doesn’t matter that He uses just us to win victory for our nation. I love how the New American Commentary categorizes Jonathan’s plans. Listen,

The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Samuel (2) Saul Makes a Foolish Vow before the Lord (13:16b–14:46)

Jonathan’s plan for fighting the Philistines defied all military logic. First, he would give up the element of surprise: “We will cross over toward the men and let them see us” (v. 8). Second, he would avoid a skirmish with the Philistines if they abandoned their position of strategic superiority on the hilltop and exhausted themselves coming down to his position. On the other hand, he would attack if they challenged him to scale the sheer rock wall and then take them on. The plan is so absurd that if it did succeed it could only be because “the LORD has given them into our hands” (v. 10). Jonathan may have intended the phrase “the LORD has given them” as a wordplay on his own name, since it was expressed with a form of ntn and yhwh, the two lexical roots comprising his name.

Jonathan’s plan for fighting the Philistines defied all military logic. First, he would give up the element of surprise: “We will cross over toward the men and let them see us” (v. 8). Second, he would avoid a skirmish with the Philistines if they abandoned their position of strategic superiority on the hilltop and exhausted themselves coming down to his position. On the other hand, he would attack if they challenged him to scale the sheer rock wall and then take them on. The plan is so absurd that if it did succeed it could only be because “the LORD has given them into our hands” (v. 10). - Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 156.

That reminds me of a story that I read about praying for God’s power.

Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 156.

One of the noblest souls in our denomination is its former president Dr. Carl Bates. He had a dramatic conversion experience in a New Orleans hotel room after reading a Gideon Bible. He says that after being called into the ministry he began to pray for God to give him His power. But he did not receive it. Finally, after many such prayers God gave Him His answer. “With plans no larger than yours, you do not need my power.” - Hobbs, H. H. (1990). My favorite illustrations. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, pg 120

How big are the plans that we are praying for today? Faith, Jonathan understood, has a way of not limiting God to only working in perfect circumstances and with ideal individuals. Faith affirms that when the odds are against us, all we need to know is that we are still in God’s favor. Maybe this is the first thing that locks God out of working miracles in our lives - our plans don’t really need God to work. Numbers can’t restrain the Lord, but our lack of imagination can arrest God rendering Him powerless to help us. The image of the Maytag repair man comes to mind - God sits underutilized on the sidelines, waiting for a call to put broken lives back together. Our thoughts are safe enough and tame enough that we could pull it off ourselves absent any divine intervention. I know that Jonathan’s plans - if they could be thought of as plans - were reckless but when there is no element for God to step in, our safe bets end up robbing God of His Sovereignty. Don’t restrain God in your plans - give Him room to work.

Robert D. Bergen, 1, 2 Samuel, vol. 7, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 156.

Faith, Jonathan understood, has a way of not limiting God to only working in perfect circumstances and with ideal individuals. Faith affirms that when the odds are against us, all we need to know is that we are still in God’s favor.

TOTC 1-2 Sa

“Since the time of Abraham there had been numerous examples of God’s saving power, and Jonathan was convinced that the significant factor had always been the power of God and not the size of the army. It followed that, if the Lord God was with the two of them, he could give them victory, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Such an appreciation of Israel’s Lord contrasted with his father’s indecision (v. 2).” - Baldwin, J. G. (1988). 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 8). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Now Jonathan’s armor bearer is anonymous but noble – do what is in your heart to do, he tells Jonathan. Maybe, just maybe, Jonathan wasn’t thinking right because nothing about his plan made sense. This is probably why he did it in secret because there was no way his father would agree to this reckless plan. But sometimes you’ve got to do what’s on your heart to do. Don’t hold anything back. You have a sense of what will get you going. Dare I say it, that God lay something on your heart that is risky but that may turn the tide in your favor.

I don’t know anything that encourages us in our sense of calling more than having help and companionship, a partner who connects on a heart level. Whatever is on your heart, I’ll go with you. Jonathan’s armor bearer signed up for a mission before he even knew the specifics because he knew the critical mission detail - this mission would be a mission for three - you, me and God. The odds would be impossible. The conditions would be terrible. But the armor bearer could say, if God is going with you, then I’m going with you too.

But the armor bearer could say, if God is going with you, then I’m going with you too. This too might be a restraint on God working on our behalf. When was the last time you had someone support your vision based on planning so skimpy, everything was left to the imagination? We underestimate the multiplicative power of partnership - how much value is added to our lives when we have one person who believes enough in our vision that they would journey with us regardless of the odds. On the flip side, how many grand ideas could we exhume from the graveyard of dreams? If we did an autopsy of these long buried but never forgotten dreams, how many dead dreams would we find were assassinated by the words and worries of a close friend? We trusted friends and family to be supportive; but they pulled the plug on our dreams.

This too might be a restraint on God working on our behalf. Numbers can’t restrain the Lord, but the critical voice of those we care about can stifle any God-given dream, killing it before it has the chance to bear any fruit.

When was the last time you had someone support your vision based on planning so skimpy, everything was left to the imagination? We underestimate the multiplicative power of partnership - how much value is added to our lives when we have one person who believes enough in our vision that they would journey with us regardless of the odds. On the flip side, how many grand ideas could we exhume from the graveyard of dreams? If we did an autopsy on these long buried but never forgotten dreams, how many dead dreams would we find were assassinated by the words and worries of a close friend? We trusted friends and family to be supportive; but they pulled the plug on our dreams. The relationship that Jonathan had with his armor bearer was so close that together they could do the impossible for God. If you haven’t experienced this, pray that God would bless you with one person who would support the vision God has laid on your heart.

It would be easy to point the finger at how the words of others derailed us from a heart-felt purpose. We wanted to be, to do, to try but their negative words robbed us of any initiative. God spoke to me though that this wasn’t just about me being Jonathan in search of a suitable armor bearer. God confronted me to take this passage a little deeper and look at the challenge of how well do I play armor bearer to other people’s dreams and visions? Do my words kill or inspire initiative? Do I know how to play the role of spiritual cheer leader to my church? Do more people catch a vision of what God would want them to do because I help to launch their ideas from conception to maturation? Before I go around lamenting how others’ words have robbed me - God wanted me to work on being a better armor bearer.

“The Homebrew Computer Club was an informal group of electronic enthusiasts and technically minded hobbyists who gathered to trade parts, circuits, and information pertaining to DIY construction of computing devices. It was started by Gordon French and Fred Moore who met at the Community Computer Center in Menlo Park. They both were interested in maintaining a regular, open forum for people to get together to work on making computers more accessible to everyone.

The first meeting of the club was held on March 5, 1975 in French's garage in Menlo Park, San Mateo County, California, on the occasion of the arrival in the area of the first MITS Altair 8800 microcomputer, a unit sent for review by People's Computer Company. Steve Wozniak credits that first meeting as the inspiration to design the Apple I. The next few meetings were held at a large home in Atherton, California, which had been used as a preschool. Subsequent meetings were held at an auditorium at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), until 1978, when meetings moved to the Stanford Medical School.

The 1999 made-for-television movie Pirates of Silicon Valley (and the book on which it is based, Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer) describes the role the Homebrew Computer Club played in creating the first personal computers, although the movie took the liberty of placing the meeting in Berkeley and misrepresented the meeting process.” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homebrew_Computer_Club

Piling into wooden booths with tables deeply etched with the initials of generations of Stanford students, Garland and Melen and Marsh and Felsenstein and Dompier and French and whoever else felt like showing up would get emboldened by the meeting's energy and pitchers of beer.[2]

The 1999 made-for-television movie Pirates of Silicon Valley (and the book on which it is based, Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer) describes the role the Homebrew Computer Club played in creating the first personal computers, although the movie took the liberty of placing the meeting in Berkeley and misrepresented the meeting process.[citation needed]

Now if you’re doing something reckless, you’ll never succeed if it’s done half-hearted. You’ve got to commit to it 100%. At the end of the day, the plans might not be up to scratch and you might never find a partner to work with - but you’ve got to have the passion and persistence to work out the vision that God gave to you. If you aren’t 100% committed, no amount of planning or partnership will make up for your lack of personal ownership. God is restrained in working for us when we refuse to commit ourselves to the vision. Numbers can’t restrain the Lord, but when I refuse to fully commit to the vision, God is crippled from working through me to save others. Work at it with all your heart. Put your soul into it. Give totally of yourself. Pour out your soul into laboring for Jesus. Spare nothing. Break your alabaster box. Slaughter the fatted calf. Make your life a living sacrifice that is an expression and extension of your beating heart. In truth, the only number that is kryptonite to God’s omnipotence is one - will I be the one to fully commit to the plan?

Now if you’re doing something reckless, you’ll never succeed if it’s done half-hearted. You’ve got to commit to it 100%. At the end of the day, the plans might not be up to scratch and you might never find a partner to work with - but you’ve got to have the passion and persistence to work out the vision that God gave to you. If you aren’t 100% committed, no amount of planning or partnership will make up for your lack of personal ownership. God is restrained in working for us when we refuse to commit ourselves to the vision. Work at it with all your heart. Put your soul into it. Give totally of yourself. Pour out your soul into laboring for Jesus. Spare nothing. Break your alabaster box. Slaughter the fatted calf. Make your life a living sacrifice that is an expression and extension of your beating heart.

Committing fully means sacrificing from the heart - Don’t just do the right thing – the correct thing; the safe thing; the logical thing. Do the heart thing. I know we’ve been taught not to trust our hearts because the heart is truly deceptive. Beyond that, our hearts are fragile, broken at the slightest hurt. Don’t trust your heart we have been taught because it is deceptive, fragile and needs to be protected from itself. Yet, there is nothing more precious to God than service that comes from the heart. A heart in total love with Jesus and committed to advancing God’s kingdom beats to please God every waking moment. And if our hearts are aligned with God, then from that connection flows a life-giving sacrifice that honors God.

Committing fully means stepping outside of the safety of home - Jonathan and his armor bearer set themselves where they could be seen by the Philistines. From all appearances, they looked like two deserters who were trapped between the glistening rocks and the thorny crags. But what looked like a natural prison was really a platform from which to launch their daring offensive.

Don’t you know that God sometimes positions us in an impossible spot that’s a perfect platform for a God-ordained victory? Where you are now isn’t where you will be forever. But in the providence of God, we are often led to a thorny place in direct line of sight of the enemy. From this position, there is no retreat – either we will be captured, or we will conquer.

Jonathan and his armor bearer knew that these were the options they would face when they left the safety of camp. But something told them that victory comes to those who place themselves in a position to leverage opportunities. Now opportunities don’t always happen in the safety of home. Sometimes, we must go out and face our difficulties if we want to gain victory.

As a church, where are we today? Are we locked in the safety of our homes, hiding away from the big bad world? God is calling us out of hiding to engagement with our communities. Lots of things can go wrong when we come out of hiding. We are often placed in an awkward spot where we come face to face with the issues enslaving our communities. It’s a thorny spot, right out in the open, with the spotlight aimed directly at us. But it’s the perfect spot to test the limits of God’s ability to save. From this position, exposed to the eyes of the enemy, we are perfectly placed to see not only what’s happening in the world but also how God is moving to bring about the promised deliverance.

Committing Fully means following the green lights, obeying the signals God gives that it’s time to go - So, you thought through God-inspired possibilities, you followed your heart and now you find yourself in a position where either you are captured, or you will conquer. What next? How do you know which way God will act in this situation? For Jonathan and his armor bearer, they made indicators that were easily discerned. If they tell us to stay, that means we’ll be captured. But if these Philistines mockingly tell us to come up to them, that’s a sure sign that God has decreed we will conquer them.

1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary ii. Jonathan’s Second Initiative (14:1–23)

Jonathan was not foolhardy, however, but allowed for the possibility of a mistake on his part. The way the Philistines responded to their approach would be taken as a sign from the Lord: a challenge to Come up would indicate potential victory.

That’s a clear-cut sign that is easily discerned. Yet, the reasoning behind the sign gives significant lessons to us about God’s timing in saving His people. Jonathan and his armor bearer weren’t convinced that God would deliver on that day. But Jonathan felt moved by God to act and to risk being killed or imprisoned in hopes that this was the day for a God-decreed victory.

That’s a clear-cut sign that is easily discerned. Yet, the reasoning behind the sign gives significant lessons to us about God’s timing in saving His people. Jonathan and his armor bearer weren’t convinced that God would deliver on that day. But Jonathan felt moved by God to act and to risk being killed or imprisoned in hopes that this was the day for a God-decreed victory.

What’s interesting for Jonathan was that the sign he was looking for was really a signal that a confident enemy viewed them as no threat. Think about that. Jonathan picked a sign that was so counterintuitive: if the enemy was cautious, we’ll be captured. But if they were confident enough to invite us up, that’s a sure sign God’s given them to be our captives.

That’s a different type of faith because we might all be looking for a weak spot, an area of vulnerability to exploit when God may be acting in a head-on assault that conquers the enemy at their most confident stage. And why not? Why should it be any other way, since God isn’t restrained by circumstances? Walking in Davidic like faith, Jonathan like all other heroes of faith, understand a lesson that if we apply, what a difference would be made in our lives today. God doesn’t have to do sneak attacks. God doesn’t rely on other’s weaknesses to secure for Himself or for His people a win. God doesn’t need to exploit the vulnerability of others to be victorious because God is God even when the opposition is at full strength and the church is either stuck in a thorny place or cowering in a safe place.

Jonathan wants to honor God by demonstrating God’s power to deliver when a few people, inspired by God’s faithfulness, following after their hearts, and positioned to leverage opportunities, discern that God is indicating it’s time to act in the pompous actions of the enemy.

Oh, that two or three would journey outside the camp to the front-lines where the battle rages on! Oh, that our faith, rooted in God’s faithfulness would position us to demonstrate God’s power to a world puffed up in its rebellion! Oh, that today we would make real Jonathan’s realization that nothing restrains God from saving with many or with a few!