If you're willing, so is He - A glimpse at Gideon

"The LORD is with you, valiant warrior." v12  of            Judges 6:12-32     CSB

The Israelites were a vacillating people; one minute walking with God, the next far away. They appeared to have very little consistency. This is a dangerous way to live because if we are not built on a firm foundation, storms come along and devastate.

God had saved Israel from Egypt, but this was a covenant relationship. Not so with these guys; time and time again they called on Him to save them, which He did. Their walk with Him however, was only temporary and they soon returned to their old ways. Now they were in the hands of the Midianites and God had Gideon in line for promotion.

Gideon felt the call of God from the Angel of the LORD (v12) but needed to challenge it. He said, 'Please my LORD, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? v13. He also asked the LORD, where are all the wonders we have heard about over the years. Gideon felt abandoned. He could only see his own circumstances and not the bigger picture.

Next came the shock, 'Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you' v14. 'What, how can I do this? (my paraphrase). This was very much like we have heard before. Firstly there was Moses and his reply to God's call, 'Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the Israelites out of Egypt?' (Exodus 3:11). And then Isaiah was faced with his call, 'Woe is me, for I am ruined, Because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips' (Isaiah 6:5). Then of course there was Jeremiah who said it as it was, 'Oh no LORD! Look, I don't know how to speak since I am only a youth' (Jeremiah 1:6). I even felt the same when God called me to preach my first sermon. AAARGH!

God continued to speak to a shocked Gideon, 'But I will be with you. You will strike Midian down as if it were one man' v16. 

The key to accomplishing great acts for God is to stay in relationship with Him. You can't do it alone, don't even try. God told Gideon to tear down his father's altar to Baal and build one which would be honouring to Him and then sacrifice his father's two choice bulls on it v25-32. He did this, albeit in a state of fear at getting caught out. Therefore, he took ten men with him and did this all at night so that he wouldn't be seen.

The principle here is, don't expect God to help if your heart and own life is not willing to give things up, getting your life right with God. God wants to use you; what is standing in the way? What do you need to give up? The choice is very much yours, but if you do this, God will use you and bless you for making the right choice.

Copyright 2022 Grahame Howard.                                

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