"If the Lord is With Us, Why...?"

Under the oppression of the Midianites, the people of Israel, God's people, were reduced to starvation. According to the narrative, "Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, [raiders] from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare" (Judges 6:3-6, NLT). It was as if God had abandoned them.

It is no wonder then that when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon with the message, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” that Gideon, fully aware of Israel's state, replied, "Sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, 'The Lord brought us up out of Egypt'? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites” (vv. 12, 13). Gideon's question could just as easily have been "Sir, where is God in all this mess?" For some of us, as we look around at our lives and circumstances, we have asked or we are asking that very same question.

Yet despite Gideon's protestations, it was not the Lord who had abandoned Israel but Israel who had abandoned Him. The writer tells us, "The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years" (v. 1). In other words, God's people were reaping the consequences of their disobedience which ultimately led to their sins (see vv. 7-10). Unfortunately, instead of repenting of their idolatrous ways and turning back to God, they blamed Him for their state of affairs. They expected His protection and blessings to flow despite their waywardness. They neglected to accept any responsibility for the situation in which they found themselves.

What does that have to do with us? As it was with them, so it is with us at times. When bad things happen to God's people, it is not always the devil's fault and it is not necessarily that God has "abandoned" us. In fact, His promise to Israel to never to leave nor forsake them is one that we too can claim (see Hebrews 13:5). However, if we consistently refuse to walk in His ways, we are likely to experience His displeasure. Like a loving father, He does not allow us to get away with rebellion but "disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child" (Hebrews 12:16). Yes, we do have a part to play and we do reap the benefits of our obedience as well as the consequences of our disobedience.

 Have you found yourself in a tight spot or two lately? How is your obedience to the Word of God?

Avoiding Distractions

Do you remember the last time you tried to stay focused on a task and was constantly distracted by something happening around you? For some of us, it has happened so many times that it has become our normal. Sometimes we become so distracted that we end up not doing what we wanted or started to do. We have the best of intentions but we veer off course. We are drawn away from what is important by other things that get our attention.

I thought about the power of distraction as I reflected on the words of the great British politician Sir. Winston Churchill, "You'll never reach your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks." Sir Winston has been dead since 1965 but those words continue to ring true. If we are going to complete whatever task or mission we started, we must learn to effectively deal with what is happening around us. We must develop the habit of staying focused, of keeping our eyes fixed on our goal despite the "noise." The noise could be anything. Emails that come in when we are in the midst of something important, people trying to get our attention for whatever reasons, something someone said about us, unfinished chores, and the list goes on. For each person, they are different but they are all the same. Distractions that, if we are not careful, will cause us to fall short of what we want to accomplish.

As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. Satan is very aware of that and he challenges the child of God in the same way. As we try to live our lives as God intended, Satan throws all kinds of distractions along our way. Some may seem to our advantage and may prove hard to resist. However, it is worth remembering that Satan gives us nothing for free. At the end of the day, his plan is for us to fail. Regardless of what he whispers, ultimately he comes only to steal, to kill, and to destroy. If the believer is not spiritually disciplined and in tune with the leading of the Holy Spirit, he or she will become Satan's victim; another notch on his belt.

 It is no wonder the apostle Paul writes, "I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us" (Philippians 3:14, The Message). That message to the church in Philippi is still relevant for us today. Keep focused on the goal; avoid the distractions. Through the power of the resurrected Christ we can experience victory; we can get to our God-ordained destination. How are you doing in that area?

Only An Instrument

It is interesting how when some people go out and do things in the name of the Lord, they end up bragging about it. There’s absolutely nothing wrong in reporting victories on the battlefield, but one of the worse things the child of God could do is to draw glory from God unto themselves. We note the response of the seventy disciples when they returned from their commission. Luke reports, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name” (10:17). As Bible Commentator Matthew Henry noted, “They give Christ the glory of this: It is through thy name.” They recognized that nothing they did was possible, but through Christ.

Back when I was a graduate student, during a class on 'Spiritual Leadership,' the professor used a practical example to make what I thought was a very profound point. In the hand of a world class surgeon, a scalpel is simply a surgical instrument. Regardless of the number of surgeries the surgeon would perform with that scalpel, at the end of each one the now sterilized instrument goes back among the other instruments until the next time it is needed. No matter how life saving a particular surgery was, or the accolades that came with a successful outcome, the scalpel does not take a bow, it does not get mentioned. Like the scalpel in the hand of the surgeon, so is the Christian in the hand of God; an instrument that is used to carry out God’s purposes. We do not come out for an applause, we do not take a bow.

I quite like how Jesus brought the seventy back to what was really important. After expanding their ministry capabilities, He continued, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (10:20). The theology in this statement is too great to cover in this space, but suffice it to say that Jesus deflected any intent they had of feeling special or better than everybody else. If we are to rejoice it is not as instruments being used, but rather because by God’s grace we have a place in God's kingdom.

As we fulfill our respective calling, may we be mindful of the words of John, the Revelator: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). He gets ALL the attention and ALL the glory; we simply go back to work when called upon. How are you doing in that area?