Friday 5 Sep 2014

September 5: Judges 6:13-16

Key Verse: Judges 6:14
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Devotion:
When God called Gideon to release Israel from the oppression of the Midianites it came as a bit of a surprise to Gideon. Firstly Gideon thought that this must have been a bit of a bad joke because they were so heavily under the oppression at that time. How could God allow this all to happen to them if they were supposed to be the chosen tribe? Gideon had severe doubts as to whether they were the chosen tribe after all!

When God makes a promise or a covenant, it is meant to last forever and not to be a flash in the pan like man’s promises are. God was allowing this all to happen to Israel because they were busy rejecting Him at the time. Now that the oppression was upon them they were coming round to seeing how they had probably brought this upon themselves rather than God causing this to happen. But in order for them to bounce back, something extraordinary had to happen! Why? Because that is what man seems to require once in a while.

It is sad to think that we need some sort of proof for just about everything before we believe in it. It is sad to see how much we forget over time when things seem to be going well. But when we go astray we open the doors for all the bad things to come into our lives and we invite danger, sadness and toil in the front door! Gideon was still sulking a bit and needed a bit of a reminder that God was actually in charge!

What God was instructing Gideon to do was to go forward with his own might and then to see that God was going to be behind him. When we know that God is asking us to go forward He is not expecting us to go forward with a legion of angels so that we cannot fail; He is asking us to go forward in our limited selves, knowing we are not capable. That way He will be able to show us that it is possible when He is with us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you have to have power to go forward?

Are you really relying on God?