"I don't know what to do"

What does the seashore look like when you subtract 20 grains of sand? ​

​     ​Almost every day, I feel like I am unable to do what’s put in front of me. There’s too much to do. There are too many needs, and they are too deep. I don’t know what to do. 

     Jonathan, son of King Saul, was in the same position, and the story unfolds in 1 Samuel 14. Israel was facing extinction, as a Philistine army “as great in number as the sand on the seashore” swept through and occupied the Promised Land. All that was left was a band of 600 Israelites in hiding.

     Jonathan knew the Philistine army was uncountably large. He also knew God had promised the land to Israel, not to the Philistines. He determined the fulfillment of this promise was worth risking his life for, so he recruited his armor bearer to attack a garrison of 20 Philistines. He went up against them with a courage made possible because of his faith in God’s promise, and he defeated them. 

     But this victory was hardly worth speaking of. What does the seashore look like when you subtract 20 grains of sand? Jonathan had done all he could, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing had really changed.

     Except God saw what His child had done, and in response to Jonathan’s faith, He did what no one else was able to do and miraculously drove the Philistines from the land.

     When I feel insufficient, it’s because I am. But that’s irrelevant. Anchored to faith in God’s promises, all I need to do is take the one small step I can, and then trust Him with the rest. In the words of Jonathan, “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”
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     Nate Boyd, Executive Director