The Lord is With Thee

Day two hundred six

There are days when things are going on around you and you are standing in the middle of it thinking, "What is happening?"  I had one of those moments yesterday and I am still trying to figure it out.  It is difficult to know how to react or what action needs to take place when you don't even understand what is happening.  So my prayer focused on seeking understanding and trying to figure out what my part is in the situation. My goal is to improve the situation, not add to it, and in order to do that I need a little help from above.  It is my hope that the Lord will bless all those involved so that we can move forward in a positive direction. 

Judges 6:11-24

In this post I would like to introduce a remarkable judge by the name of Gideon. Gideon is a study in contrasts. On the one hand he was a man who led a handful of warriors against a far larger army and won a great victory. On the other hand, Gideon was filled with doubts, fears and questions. He was a man who questioned God’s plan, yet he did God’s will. Because of this he is someone that many can relate to (including myself) and deserves some quality research time.  Here are some thoughts from this story.

Gideon 
Conditions
Gideon was called to be a judge during a time of intense trouble in Israel. The nation was suffering under the grip of Midianite oppression. They watched helplessly as their land was stripped, their homes and villages were destroyed, and their lives endangered. Their condition is summed up in verse 6 where the scriptures say they were “impoverished”. They were at the “end of their rope”. The people of Israel felt as though their nation was destroyed and their lives were over.

In verses 4-6 we learn that this was a time of poverty.  Israel did not have a lot during these dark, desperate days. Evidently, Gideon and his family had been able to hide away a small amount of wheat, and he was threshing that wheat behind a wine press to hide it from the Midianites (v 11).

Why was Gideon hiding?  This was a time of persecution. Gideon was hiding while he threshed because he knew the Midianites would take the small amount of grain he had if they knew about it. Gideon and his people were suffering intense persecution.

There is a sense that the Israelites felt powerless against this enemy. This is seen in the fact that Gideon is hiding from the enemy. He is just as defeated and just as frightened as the rest of the nation. It was a difficult time for God’s people.

We are also living in difficult times. We are living in days when economic uncertainty has many people fearing that they will be forced into poverty. We are living in days when the government, and society in general, are growing increasingly hostile to the things of the Lord. We are living in days when it seems that there is little spiritual power among God’s people. In some ways, we are living through times that strongly resemble those that Gideon and Israel faced in their day.

Commission
The Midianites did not know where Gideon was hiding, but the Lord did! He had His eye on Gideon the whole time. Even when Gideon was unaware of it, God was with Him, watching him and planning for his future.  We know this because in verse 12 an angel of the Lord appears to Gideon with a message of hope and assurance. 

The angel's message is this:  "The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour." 

What a great message!  This truth should comfort our hearts as well. We have the same promise (Heb. 13:5; Matt. 28:20.) We have an even better promise in John 14:17-18. "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you."  The Lord is with us, in every situation, through every valley, across every mountain!

Gideon could not see it, nor could he sense it, and it sure didn’t look like it, but he was about to be used by the Lord in a powerful way! The same is true in our lives. If we ever really grasp the truth that we are indwelt* by the Spirit of God and that His limitless power is available to use, it would change our walk and it would change our lives! What would I do differently?  Would  I have more courage?  How would I treat others?  These are thought provoking questions, that I would like to find the answers to. Today the challenge is to walk as if the Lord is with me! 

*Indwelt - this is a new word for me and I love it already.  It means: Be permanently present in (someone's soul or mind); possess spiritually.  I love the word permanently.  What a great blessing to be indwelt by the Spirit of God!