Go, I am sending you! – 2016.07.19

Go, I am sending you! – 2016.07.19

The Lord said to Gideon:
Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?
Judges 6,14

Israel was quick to forget God’s wondrous deeds. The rescue from Egypt was nothing more than a fairytale to be told to the children. Then the old powers, plus some more, returned to make life very difficult for the Israelites. After several years of desolation and hopelessness, the people finally started to pray to God again. They admitted their sin of faithlessness and cried for help. And God came and had mercy on them. He searched for a man to take on the task of saving the nation and found him in Gideon. He visited Gideon and gave him the task. But Gideon saw the impossibilities. He was the youngest in his family, and his clan was the weakest in the land… what did God want with him, when none of the requirements were met?  But God wiped away all protest with a single sentence: I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites. And so it happened that Gideon achieved a great victory over the enemy.
The situation is the same for many Christians, and for Christianity in general: salvation has been forgotten, personal contact with God has been lost; enemies of spiritual life have spread: there is tradition, religiousness, the willingness to compromise, the conceitedness of the mind … there is much that can rob us of our connection with our living God. In losing this connection with God, we have lost the spiritual treasures of peace, joy, mercy, powerful answers to prayer, miracles, healing, unmasking of evil and other signs of God’s presence about which we may read in Acts. We need to return to God! Then He will give us the renewed order: Go and free all from the hand of the enemy! Go, I am sending you! Because I am with you, you will strike down the enemy.
Gideon was to use the strength he had. It wasn’t much, he knew that. But God gave Gideon all the strength he needed in order to attain victory. Courage was Gideon’s responsibility; yes, God encouraged him, but it was up to Gideon to be courageous.

Thank You, Jesus, You have a place and a task for me, and with Your help I will make it. On my own, I cannot do it, but with Your help I will succeed. Lord, please forgive where I relied on all kinds of other things, wasting precious time and energy. I want to put You in first place again, then my life will be blessed by You and overflowing with Your gifts.

Bible study for today: 1 Peter 4,12-19


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