Judges 7-9

We finish reading about Gideon, God's hero, in Judges 7-9.  The Israelites are in bad shape.  They have lost their focus on God, their true Savior, and Gideon rises to the occasion when God calls him to rescue His people from the Midianites.  Gideon isn't a perfect leader, but he grows in faith, saves the Israelites, and learns to trust God, step by step.  Unfortunately after enjoying a time of peace, the Israelites revert back to their unfaithful ways and the cycle of self-destruction begins again with Abimelek, one of Gideon's sons.  

Gideon is one of God's many unlikely heroes from the Bible.  The odds aren't in his favor.  And the more I get to know God, the more I recognize this as an integral and defining part of God's grace and redemptive plan for His people.  

We relate to people when they allow us to see and connect to their "humanness," especially their weaknesses.

Gideon reminds me that when we align our will with God's will for our lives, nothing can stop us.  He blesses us with divine confidence, a confidence that is strong despite the odds against us.  

In fact, God loves to show us His presence and power when the odds are stacked against us.  Look at what he does to Gideon's army...

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’

Judges 7:2 

By sending home over half of Gideon's men, God proves a point He really wants us to remember.

With only 300 men, Gideon defeats a militia too huge to count.

God wants us to know the real source of our strength.  It's not numbers or circumstances.  It's God Himself.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for using ordinary people to do extraordinary things in Your kingdom.  Thank You for the example I have in Gideon.

Help me to find and trust the strength I have in Your Son and my Savior, Jesus.  Use me, please Lord, for Your glory, and give me divine confidence.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Peace,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.

Judges 4-6

We meet a few more heroes today in Judges 4-6.  God is using individuals to save His people, both physically and spiritually.  

We meet Deborah, a woman who leads Israel in breaking free from Jabin, king of Canaan.  She makes it a point of focus to renew the Israelites' faith in God as well, and they enjoy 40 years of peace.  

March on, my soul; be strong!

“So may all your enemies perish, Lord!

    But may all who love you be like the sun

    when it rises in its strength.”

Judges 5:21, 5:31

And following this long period of peace, the Israelites stray from God's path, again.  Midian impoverishes God's people, oppressing them for seven years, and they cry out to God.  God uses Gideon to save His people this time around.

Gideon reminds me of Moses with His "burning bush moment."  An angel of the Lord shows up under an oak tree where Gideon has been forced to thresh wheat in a winepress in order to keep it from the Midianites.

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Judges 6:12-14  

Gideon has a hard time believing that God is calling him to action.  He questions who God is and God's presence because of his own terrible circumstances.

Gideon demonstrates our universal tendency to see all the pain and suffering around us and ask, "why?"   

God answers Gideon, and God answers us.

God doesn't want us to suffer, but He does want us to turn to Him and trust Him so He can use us.  Suffering is sometimes the only thing that will bring us to our knees. 

Our faith makes us exponentially strong.  In Christ, our Savior, by our faith, we become "mighty warriors" to face whatever life brings.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for knowing me, for seeing my weaknesses, and for making me strong through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.  

Here all my questions, Lord.  I give them to You, and pray You will use them to strengthen my faith and determination to follow You.  

I know Your ways are perfect.  My faith and trust are in You.  I pray for You to be with me as I deal with ____________________ in my life.  I am handing the situation to You, and I pray for Your will to be done.  

You are my rock and my redeemer.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Grace and peace,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.