When suddenly confronted with an attack from a known or unknown enemy we have two choices that instinctively rise the occasion—run towards the battle or run from the battle and hide.  But involve extreme fear of imagined or assured outcomes.  Psychologists call this human instinct; flight or fight.  Muscles tense and beads of sweat appear. This combination of reactions to stress is known as the “fight-or-flight” response because it evolved as a survival mechanism, enabling people and other mammals to react quickly to life-threatening situations.

HOW DOES GOD FIT INTO OUR FIGHT OR FLEE INSTINCTS?  This passage is interesting as we read about the different approaches the leaders took when outnumbered by their enemy, the Philistines.  Israel greatest enemy gathered to attack Israel at Geba, the Israelites were badly in need of resources for battle. But Israel has God, the God who created all and over all.  Nothing is too difficult for God.  Nothing is impossible when God directs for where He guides; He provides.  Samuel represents God as His spokesperson. Samuel is always quick to give God all the glory due Him.  Samuel is the high priest, prophet and seer of outcomes, the wise one of the Kingdom of Israel. 

But King Saul grew tired of waiting for Samuel to instruct him about the battle at hand. Samuel delayed, and Saul’s men began to desert.  Saul, in panic which leads to fool hardy actions, he did the unthinkable—took Samuel’s place as priest and offered a sacrifice to the Lord only to seek God’s good favor in battle.  Saul took the situation into his own hands. 

1 Samuel 13

Samuel Rebukes Saul

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years.

² Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

³ Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

⁵ The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. ⁸ He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. ¹⁰ Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.

¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel.

Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

¹⁵ Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

Israel Without Weapons

¹⁶ Saul and his son Jonathan and the men with them were staying in Gibeah in Benjamin, while the Philistines camped at Mikmash. ¹⁷ Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp in three detachments. One turned toward Ophrah in the vicinity of Shual, ¹⁸ another toward Beth Horon, and the third toward the borderland overlooking the Valley of Zeboyim facing the wilderness.

¹⁹ Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!” ²⁰ So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plow points, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. ²¹ The price was two-thirds of a shekel for sharpening plow points and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads.

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.

Jonathan Attacks the Philistines

²³ Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Do we do what Saul did—in panic and under pressure of those around us, do whatever it takes fight or flight without God’s direction and wisdom?  Do succumb to actions unbecoming God’s character?  Do we “sacrifice” (time and wealth) for the purpose to get what we want from God?  From personal experience, I have learned and observed in myself and in others that God is not pleased with our efforts to bargain with Him.  Be still, let go, know that He is God.  We are not God. We must, in all circumstances, wait on God to direct us.  In the waiting, God is doing in us exactly what is needed so God can work through us to accomplish His will.

But even when knowing bargaining is not in our best interest; our human trait is to try it anyway which will invariably result in very poor outcomes.  Our best response is to repent quickly, realizing that we have defied God—just like Saul. 

We must obey God’s commands in all circumstances—even if we have to wait for those directions! Saul lost his kingdom because he disobeyed God. Saul was pressured to act before all his men deserted. Lack of patience cost him everything.

There is always a high cost when we take life’s trials into our own hands.  When faced with panic and fear over our circumstances; call to God first and ask for His wisdom and peace who is over all creation. 

GREAT IS GOD’S FAITHFULNESS! 

God’s word is full of blessed assurance of his love and care for us. God knows right now what you and I are waiting for, going through, while living with hope for a “better day”. That “better day” comes as soon as we seek peace with God whose love drives out every fear—and panic when we wait upon the Lord’s wisdom and direction! 

Know this about God that we will continue to learn from Samuel: “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind” (15:29).  God is God—and we are not.  Saul will try to be God and take his place on the throne at great cost to him with scarier outcomes he and his family.  Israel will not fall because one man tried to bargain with God while trying to be God.  God is still at work. God’s plans will never change, because he makes his plans in complete knowledge. Forget hopeful forecasting. God declares “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Nothing takes God by surprise. “The plans of the LORD stand firm forever” (Ps 33:11).  So, trust God—as soon as that flight or fight instinct kicks in—trust God!

I know as leaders that it’s easy to compromise when people are waiting for you to act. Determine that no matter the pressure, no matter the cost, no matter the delay, you will act only when your response honors God. Never compromise your integrity to satisfy others. Never bargain with God to get what you think is best. Many have tried and regretted it. 

When God fights our battles in, for, and through us beyond our wildest dreams; do not let pride steal God’s honor and praise.  Pride has been the downfall of countless leaders.  Avoid the saying, “I’m so blessed” when life is good when our minds are thinking, I am good. This thinking easily slips into a “believers’ form of pride, demonstrated by Saul, who thinks God will do what we want, when we want it because of how good and successful we are and have been.  We forget that God did it all, not us!  We join Him in His plan!  Our work is to trust and obey Him while blessing God with our thanks and praise for who He is to all the world!  Small thinking can give birth to an outrageous pride if not held in check.  As soon as we think we are God with control over all things and all people; stop immediately and return to who God is and thank Him for all He has done.

God’s power is available to all believers who call on Him.  God has given us all we need to join Him in the battle for souls that need Jesus.  Paul, chained to a soldier in prison for preaching Jesus, writes of the armor and the weapons we have available to us;

“…be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Ephesians 6:10-18

God fights our daily battles; but Jesus already won the war. Even though Jesus defeated death and rose to life, winning over the Enemy of God; we are still riddle with skirmishes with evil in our imperfect world. So, God provides all we need! We cling to our Hope in Jesus; for He IS coming back to claim His own to live in eternity with Him.

God provides His Holy Spirit who lives in us with power, helping us avoid flight or fight and trust God to help us. God’s Word, by His Spirit, guides us to all we need to know about the strategy of the enemy and the resources we have in Christ!  Fear and panic are suddenly gone!  All God asks is that we trust and obey Him and He will help us win our daily battles with our real enemy. The bonus of obedience is God’s gift of peace and the joy of Christ in us.

Lord,

Thank you for correcting our thinking through your Word with strategies to defeat our real enemy who plagues us.  May circumstances that panic us flee or fight be used instead to build our faith in You. I’m listening.  I’m yours.  I trust you for you are Life.

In Jesus Name, Amen