Jashobeam, a Hakmonite, was chief of the officers; he raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. 1 Chronicles 11:11 (NIV).

Jashobeam “raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.” That’s extraordinary bravery. When the odds are 300 to 1, it’s impossible to be victorious in your own strength.  Without the overshadowing presence and power of God, human effort just won’t cut it (no pun intended). For a body count of 300 only happens when God is fighting the battle.

When it comes to spiritual matters, Christians will never know their potential under God until they take on impossible odds. Do you know your potential in God? You’ll only discover it when you act in such a way that victory can only be assured if God is in it.

We may never see what God can do until we realize that God’s work in the world is usually a joint project; he works with us as we yield ourselves to work with Him. Spiritual victories don’t just happen. God gives us victory when we go forward in His name, unleashes His power when we trust in Him alone, and overcomes the enemy when we wield “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” Ephesians 6:17.

What’s needed in the world today are Spirit filled believers who will raise the spear to strike against  godlessness and lukewarm religion. For we’ll never be Jashobeam’s for God if we sit safely in the trenches of Bible discussion groups. And we’ll never be victorious by simply talking about, or believing in the Great Commission. We will only be triumphant when we get witnessing in the strength of the Spirit, go head to head with the enemy, take the offensive, a take on impossible odds with no other hope but Him. This is how it is with all God’s mighty men and women.

Brother Q (not his real name), a pastor who was released from prison after the death of Mao Tse-tung, knew all about taking risks for Christ. The communists figured he was too sick and too old to be much of a threat. But they were wrong. This slightly shoddy, short, balding, and middle-aged man who lived in a small two room apartment with his wife and children, rode a beat up women’s bicycle, and earned about $35 a month at a boring government job, was an elite warrior in the army of the Lord. For Brother Q helped start the “house church” movement in China. First dozens of house churches, then hundreds of them. Eventually this nondescript little man became the leader of nearly two thousand house churches with more than 125 000 believers in eleven different provinces, as well as an outreach to ethnic Chinese in Siberia.

Like Jashobeam and Brother Q, you can be an elite warrior in the Lord’s army if you’re bold enough to believe that one with God is a majority.