PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Judges 5-6
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13)
This is a universal question, wondered by believer and unbeliever alike.
God is not the cause of “all this”, nor is He absent when we need Him most.
These stories show that “all this” happens when people do follow God.
They also show that God keeps stepping in to help, when asked (vv.7-8).
All suffering and brokenness in our world comes from human folly and failure.
I don’t mean that every time I suffer, it is because I did not something wrong.
But I belong to sinful humanity, and I suffer with the rest of the world.
I contribute to “all this”, even if I do not always cause each specific hardship.
God allows us to experience the result of wandering from Him… and it isn’t pretty.
The Lord is with us in our suffering; this is what Jesus and the cross show us.
But to really help us He needs to rescue us from our folly and failure.
God chooses weak leaders to make His point; our hope is in Him, not in ourselves.
In this pandemic time, am I relying more on the Lord and choosing to follow Him?
Or am I going my own way and experiencing the consequences?
PRAYER
Lord, if we can’t sense You near, is it because You’ve left us or because we’ve left You?
Barak and Gideon were both fearful – uncertain to do the task before them. I do am fearful when i face a challenge – and do not dare to go in my own strength. I need to know that I am on God’s side in the quest before – in the decisions and actions I take. Something definitely needed to be done – even Gideon’s father had a altar to Baal – how deeply had pagan practices penetrated Israel. How deeply does my culture, technology, affluence and materialism penetrate me today – that in the busyness I lose sight of the mission – that I am called to follow Jesus! HS convict me to answer the call daily in whatever circumstance – to be faithful to the hope I have in Jesus.
I remember Joshua’s words – but as for me and my household, we will serve the living God. Do this and live. That is what the Master said. Choices. Choose.
Obey. Be GodStrong walking in His way and doing His will. God gives His people strength when they walk with Him. Today, God is First as He needs to be everyday.
When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.