HELEN SANDERS
7-1-2020
BE A GIDEON
It was a dark time in the days of Israel. The Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east came against them. They destroyed their crops and their cities and left no sustenance for Israel. It was the result of their sin that caused this situation. There were so many of them that came against Israel that Judges 6:5 says,
“For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.”
Sin will always bring a nation into captivity by their enemies. Vs. 6 says,
“…they cried unto the Lord.”
It is at this point that a prophet came with the message as to why they were in bondage, reminding them of their sin, telling them that they had not obeyed God. The people were hiding, living in fear. It was at this point, an angel came to Gideon and told him that God was going to use him to turn the captivity around. As the story goes, the angel told Gideon he was a mighty man of valour. Gideon replied with
“if that’s the case why has God allowed us to be in such a mess.”
(my translation of vs 6:13.) Gideon’s reply is like many of us. Me? No way. I am the least of the least in my father’s house. (6:15) He saw himself defeated and was living in fear. The way we see ourselves will determine our destiny.
You see, my friends, we often blame God for our situation instead of ourselves. When God lifts his hand off a person or a nation and allows it to be brought into bondage, we blame everyone but ourselves. God did not do it to Israel. Israel did it to Israel because of their sin. Sin will always bring bondage. Bondage brings fear, and then we look to everything but God for the answers.
This is the place our country is in today. How could God allow all this mess to take place here in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave? How could a loving God allow this? The fear in our country has paralyzed the “church” and has caused businesses to close and our economy to collapse. Many are looking to a man to make America great again, but it isn’t going to happen through any man. The only way it will change is for America to stop the “political” blame game and realize it is the sin of the nation that has shut us down. It isn’t a virus. It isn’t the terror in the streets. It isn’t the media. It is sin. Proverbs 14: 34 says,
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
When we realize this then things can change individually. It did for Israel. God used a fearful, hiding man to bring it about. He did not use big numbers to defeat their enemies. He used a handful.
The question today is this: Are you willing to rise up and be a modern-day Gideon and be the warrior for Christ that He wants you to be? Yes, you. It can start with you right there in your home as you read this. You can determine to repent for this nation and be a voice in the marketplace for Jesus. Be a voice in your church, calling it to repentance. You can be a voice to your families, your children, your grandchildren, your neighbors. If we stand up for righteousness perhaps God will use you to bring a lost soul into the kingdom before it is too late.
Be a Gideon. Do not let fear control you in these dark hours. Rise up and go forth in the strength of God today!
