~Old Testament Scenarios~
Judges
Then Gideon said to him, “O my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Judges 6:13 (NASB)
“Walking out in Your Calling”
You’ve heard of “3-D” before. Gideon was stuck there - Disconnection, Despondency, and Depression. There he was, doing his daily work and yet hiding from his oppressors in a most peculiar place. He was in a wine press, yet there he was threshing grain. We know fear and distrust were ruling Gideon’s heart, because he did not want the chaff from the grain to fly up and be seen or make any noise on the floor to entice the local Midianites to come and steal it away, but liquid from the wine and flakes of wheat should not get mixed together! Gideon was struggling with not feeling the Lord’s presence. When we disconnect with God, we can get despondent with the calling God has for our life. That will always lead to some form of depression.
Because the sons of Israel were doing evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord humbled them and gave them into the hands of the idol-worshipping Midianites and Moabites. These were a people who were always a problem to Gideon’s forefathers, Abraham and Isaac.
Gideon was struggling to reconcile that if God was with them, then why were they having so many problems? Have you thought that too, those questions of why God is letting all this happen? Have you cried out, “Don’t you see me here Lord, couldn’t you change this for me if you really wanted to?” Boy, I have! Gideon had heard about the miracles of the past and wanted to experience one for himself. Yet, he did not realize that his people had forsaken (abandoned) the Lord. The Lord had not forsaken them.
An Angel of the Lord came to speak encouragement into Gideon and to give him a mission. Many believe this was Christ Himself, a Theophany, when Jesus appears in the Old Testament in the form of a man.
This angel called Gideon a mighty man of valor. Really, a man of valor? Even as he’s hiding in a winepress? The Lord sees our potential. He sees all that we were created for and He speaks life into each of us. Do you listen to His voice, read it from the scriptures, or do you listen to the world that likes to cut you down? Are you using your words to build up and give life to another? Or do your words belittle and cut others down (whether you have met that person or just formed an opinion of them)? I wonder if Gideon felt a moment of guilt being called a mighty man of valor as he had just been distrusting God in his hiding place. Or did he feel encouraged by believing he could be more than he had dreamed he could be? Is God wanting to speak words of life into you ... are you listening and believing? Gideon had been taught the scriptures and remembered when Jacob stated, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.” (Gen 28:16). Possibly at that point, those words gave him the lift he needed to remember to believe again. The Lord has chosen the weak things of the world so that no flesh will bring glory to himself, but to God alone. And since we are “in” Christ, He imparts wisdom and righteousness so we can boast only in the Father.
One of the first lines of order is to tear down the places of idol worship. God needed Gideon and the people to repent and then “clean house” before they were to have their miracle. Each of us must repent and clean areas in our life where we have put other things before the Lord or in place of Him. Call on God to help you do this, and to help you if you have been in a defeated place. Reconnect through repentance and then know that after repentance it is the Lord who is the lifter of our heads. YAHWEH TSEBAOTH is God’s Hebrew name for “The Lord of Hosts”. He is the ruler of all of creation and will lead you into any battle you must face.
This is your day. God has given it to you! What will you do with it? God has a calling on each of our lives. Will you choose to walk out in the purpose He has on your life? We have the abundance of God’s provision, protection, and promises… but most of all we have His all-loving Presence.
"I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church."
Ephesians 1:19-22 (NLT)