David and Jonathan are two characters in Scripture that give us a great picture of what true friendship is. Before I go too far I will give you a bit of history. Jonathan was the son of Saul who was the anointed king of Israel at the time and David was the newly anointed king-to-be of Israel. So historically, this is a very unlikely friendship because David has been promised what by rightful inheritance is Jonathan's. The problem stems from the fact that Saul had decided to go against God's will, so God sent Samuel (who was a prophet), to anoint a new king that would take Saul's place and establish a kingdom that trusted in God. But as many of us know (and for those of you who don't, I encourage you to read the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles this summer), David had plenty of flaws and made many mistakes as king, but he always came back to God for direction and forgiveness. This, among other reasons, is why he is called a man after God's own heart in Scripture.

So if David were to become king and take the throne, that would mean that he would be taking the inheritance that was due to Jonathan. Yet despite the fact his future as king was to be taken by David, his friendship with David was bigger and far more important than any inheritance. One lesson that we can learn here is that Jonathan had just as much faith in God as did David for he fully trusted that God knew what he was doing and he did not question God's decision to put David on the throne instead of himself. Many times we only see the picture in the here and now while God sees the total picture. How many times have we argued with God and asked him to change the situations that we face to fit our needs in the here and now? We often petition God on the premise that he might be missing what is happening to us and if it were not for us he might miss the whole situation completely. We look to God to fix the injustices that we face. We ask him to make our lives how we want them to be thinking that we can see the whole picture.

How easy would it have been for Jonathan to go to God and ask him to rethink his decision for a minute? He might have reminded him of his different victories over the Philistines, or maybe his leadership skills. He may have even appealed to the fact that he was the heir to the throne of Israel that God himself had set up with his father, pointing out the flaws of his father and making sure that God understood that he would be a much better leader than his father ever was. Do you feel that this kind of attitude is strangely familiar and hits close to home for you sometimes?

Final Thought: As you face times where you think that God doesn't understand your needs and wants, take a moment to think about this unlikely friendship and take a moment to ask if maybe God has something better.