Lean not on your own understanding 1 Samuel 7, 10
Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel (1 Samuel 7, 10).
The Israelites came to a juncture where they recognised that their strength and ability over the years have failed in this battle against the Philistines, and since the last battle with the Philistines, they have been under their control. This had pushed them to come back to Yahweh in an act of repentance.
In the previous verse, the Israelites out of fear of the Philistines coming against them asked Samuel to intercede for them. Israel cried out for God in their time of need and God answered in a strange way against their enemies.
Most of the time when we call upon God in situations, He answered in unusual way beyond our human comprehension and understanding. The bible says He “thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them”. In human understanding, this is so impossible. How can this happen? But that is why He is God and we need His help. Only Him can do the impossible and the unheard off.
It was a miracle that day for Israel and God is still doing miracle when we call upon Him in our lives, when we surrender our all to Him and accept that we are limited in what we can do and achieve by our human ability and trust Him.
We cannot rely on our own understanding, intellect or ability to see the manifestation of God’s power in our lives. To experience the supernatural, we need to give up our reasoning and just trust God and allow Him to lead us. Supernatural is not explained by natural laws or scientific research. It is divine, beyond our finite mind so trust Him.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths” (Proverbs 3, 5-6).
Some of the benefits for those who trust God and His word are:
The Lord is a shield to those who trust Him (Psalm 18:30)
He saves those who trust Him (Psalm 17:7)
He defends them (Psalm 5:11)
He laid up great goodness for them (Psalm 31:19)
He surrounds them with mercy (Psalm 32:10)
In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul and his team in Asia were confronted with death but trusted in the Lord and were delivered (“Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us” 2 Corinthians 1, 9-10)
This year, as we are calling for Divine Help, let’s trust God and lean not on our own understanding in the face of difficulties. Our God is able to deliver us He makes a way where there is no way.
