The Price of Failure

Resistance is a sign that you're going somewhere.   Hell will fight you where God has called you. 

God likes to stack things against you, so that when He delivers you, He will get credit.  

You are in a conflict whether you like it or not.  When you follow Christ, you are picking a fight with the devil.

1 Samuel 14:1 (NLT)

One day Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come on, let’s go over to where the Philistines have their outpost.” But Jonathan did not tell his father what he was doing.

1. We are to take the initiative. 

It's about doing something you've never done.   We must do something.  

The tragedy is not what we suffer, but what we miss.  We can't do everything, but we can do something. 

1 Samuel 14:2 (NLT)

2 Meanwhile, Saul and his 600 men were camped on the outskirts of Gibeah, around the pomegranate tree at Migron.

2. We are to embrace discomfort. 

Sometimes God will move us from where we are comfortable to where we need to be. 

Saul was doing nothing in his comfort under a tree, but Jonathan was venturing out into conflict.

  

Matthew 16:18 (NLT)

18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

The gates of hell are defensive. There is a difference in playing not to lose, and playing to win. We are to plan to win the lost. God is not intimated by overwhelming resistance.    

1 Samuel 14:6 (NLT)

6 “Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!”

3. We must embrace risk.  

You will never know until you go. Why avoid the context of where a miracle can take place?  Unless you step into the impossible, you will never see the power of God.

If we are too careful, we will never be unstoppable. We are afraid to try because we are afraid to fail.  I would rather fail trying than fail by doing nothing.

Let's try and fail. So what?  Each of us have failed at something.  When we fail, we learn something that we didn't know before.  When we learn, we grow. If you embrace this process, you will grow as a person of faith.

1 Samuel 14:7 (NLT)

7 “Do what you think is best,” the armor bearer replied. “I’m with you completely, whatever you decide.”

Where vision meets commitment that's where the miracles of God take place. The supernatural is waiting for you!

1 Samuel 14:8-16 (NLT)

8 “All right, then,” Jonathan told him. “We will cross over and let them see us. 

9 If they say to us, ‘Stay where you are or we’ll kill you,’ then we will stop and not go up to them. 

10 But if they say, ‘Come on up and fight,’ then we will go up. That will be the Lord’s sign that he will help us defeat them.”

11 When the Philistines saw them coming, they shouted, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!” 

12 Then the men from the outpost shouted to Jonathan, “Come on up here, and we’ll teach you a lesson!”

“Come on, climb right behind me,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “for the Lord will help us defeat them!”

13 So they climbed up using both hands and feet, and the Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer killed those who came behind them. 

14 They killed some twenty men in all, and their bodies were scattered over about half an acre.

15 Suddenly, panic broke out in the Philistine army, both in the camp and in the field, including even the outposts and raiding parties. And just then an earthquake struck, and everyone was terrified.

16 Saul’s lookouts in Gibeah of Benjamin saw a strange sight—the vast army of Philistines began to melt away in every direction.

God sent the earthquake because He didn't want Saul to miss it.  God doesn't want you to miss the miracle that He wants to do through you.  

You can be near it, and still miss it.  Don't miss what God wants to do in this moment. Heaven is tapping it's foot waiting for you. 

Romans 10:8-10 (NLT)

8 In fact, it says,

“The message is very close at hand;
    it is on your lips and in your heart.”

And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 

9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Mike Haman, Healing Place Church