Hopeless. Without direction. In despair. Nothing seems to work.

And no, it doesn’t mean this is how it has always been. You knew better days. You know you can make it happen. But somehow, something just does not just give. Nothing makes sense anymore. In exasperation, you lose your fight.

1 Kings 13:19 Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!”

Opportunities come up. But they seem out of your reach. You simply cannot pay the price.

You see, they can’t exactly describe you as…. Young, dynamic, energetic; Tall, dark, handsome; Youthful, fair, sexy; Possessing a degree, with an MBA as added advantage…. You fall short.

1 Samuel 13:20-21 So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

The children of Israel were faced with a situation where they were surrounded by Philistines; and yet had no way to make a counter-attack, because the price of getting their weaponry was ‘out of their reach’.

It was a hopeless situation. They could do nothing to save themselves. They were ‘down to nothing’.

I Samuel 13:22 So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.

And yet, it is in our nothingness that God steps in.

1 Samuel 14:1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

When Jonathan had a divine strategy to get them out of bondage, he told no one. It means, he must have spent time on his own, built a conviction in his heart, and based on that conviction – took action.

We will, in our seasons of nothingness, be drawn into aloneness, the place where God begins to drop divine ideas and divine strategies. We must, then, develop the discipline to move into action without seeking popular opinion. The journey of destiny is never a democracy.

1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, “Come, let’s go over to the outpost of the uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

Jonathan took action, not based on his own strength; after all, all odds were stacked against him. But he had confidence that “nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.”

It doesn’t matter how bleak or hopeless your situation looks, like Jonathan, hold on to the faith that “nothing can hinder the Lord from saving.”

1 Samuel 14:7 “Do all that you have in mind,” his armor-bearer said. “Go ahead; I am with you heart and soul.”

Jonathan, having faith, needed support from someone. And no, it was not just someone. It was a person who trusted what Jonathan had in his mind, and was willing to follow him with his heart and soul.

In your journey of life, you need in your corner one person – who will catch your vision, and do everything it takes to support it to its fulfillment.

1 Samuel 14:13-14 Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer followed and killed behind him. In that first attack Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed some twenty men in an area of about half an acre.

Jonathan’s armor-bearer did not only assure him of his unwavering support in spoken; he actualized it in the battlefield. Our support systems will be tested – not in the words they speak to us – but in the heat of the battlefield.

When the Philistines fell before Jonathan, the armor-bearer followed and killed them behind him. Jonathan’s victory was predicated on the tactical synergy between him and his armor-bearer. There was not only a spirit of agreement, there was a mind, heart and soul connection.

1 Samuel 14:20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.

While Saul showed up for battle, there really was no battle for him to fight. The Philistines were already striking each other in confusion. This victory was not about the children of Israel. It was about the God of Israel.

In the journey of life, when you feel ‘down to nothing’, remember, that’s when God steps in – and fights the battle on your behalf.

I pray that you will find the confidence to trust Him in your ‘nothingness’, that you will find time with Him to hear divine ideas and strategies, and that He will bless you with an ‘armor-bearer’ with whom you can have tactical synergy to fight the battles of life.

Bon Voyage.