: : : : :Texa§§ower: : : : :
"Faith-bearing Seed for the Soul"
"The sower soweth the Word."
Mark 4:14
IF God is with me, WHY is all this happening to me?
In the Bible, when God's people got fat and happy, invariably they
turned
from Him and
began worshipping idols. God would then turn away because of their sin
and
idolatry and the enemy soon began to defeat them in the midst of their
independently prosperous lifestyles.
For a period of seven years, we see the nation of Israel in this
position
again, as the Midianites thwarted control over them. Their crops and
livestock
were being ravished, and they were
fearfully hiding out in hills and caves. They and their land was being
shaken.
Finally the Israelites came to their senses and cried out to God for
help! The story in Judges 6 continues when the Lord appeared to Gideon
while he
was threshing wheat in the bottom of a winepress. The Lord said to
Gideon:
Judges 6:12
“The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor."
Gideon must have thought: "Give me a break, Lord! Can't You see where
I'm at? I’m IN THE PITS. Things couldn't be going any worse. Why is all
this
happening to me? I know You are God and that you are with me, but I
can’t
believe what we're all going through. We need a miracle!”
Here’s what Gideon actually said:
Vs. 13...And Gideon said unto Him,
“Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?
And where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of?”
There had been no peace and prosperity in Gideon’s life for SEVEN
YEARS!
So many times, while going through difficult situations, I've asked,
“Where
are You at God, and where is my miracle? And WHY is this happening to
me if
You are with me? Where are all the miracles like we’ve seen in the
past?...Why
are You not doing them for me now?”
Most of those around Gideon were in to idol worship... but not Gideon!
He may have been fearful like all the rest, and we know he felt like a
nothing...perhaps he even felt like a coward,
but he had not denied God. Yes, he was hiding out. But the Lord knew
what
was in Gideon's heart. God wouldn't have called him a "mighty man of
valor"
(or) “a man of strength and bravery,”
if he wasn’t! The situation AROUND him apparently had humbled him,
which was
a GOOD thing! Later when God did give him victory over the enemy,
Gideon
KNEW beyond a shadow of a doubt Who won the battle and to Whom the
glory
belonged.
Had Gideon been full of faith and power in his own might, perhaps he
would have been inclined to take some of the glory, when victory did
come ... or,
most likely, God may NOT have used him at all! Difficult circumstances,
all
those things that surround us that look like God has turned His back on
us
personally, may only be the result of the sins of the nation, and not
necessarily
a sin in our own soul, as the devil would like for us to believe! God
has a
way of allowing the enemy to reign over the entire situation, so that
He can
get everyone’s attention, especially when there is sin in the camp!
While the
guilty are being punished, we often suffer
to a degree right along with them. But during this time of suffering,
God is
humbling and preparing the righteous to help lead those sinners back to
Him.
It wasn't until the Israelites were being defeated that they would call
out to God as a nation! When things were going well, they began
building
altars to other gods. Human nature hasn't changed much today, has it?
Sometimes
the innocent have to suffer with the multitude for the overall sins
that are
being committed... Because of His mercy, grace and love for His people,
God
always has His "Gideons" being prepared . A "Gideon" meaning a humble,
unlikely
deliverer.
It's a person that has no outstanding attributes of their own...one who
is
quietly waiting and working in the "threshing mills," faithfully
grinding out a
daily living, and with their meager existence, helping others as they
are
able. And they are probably quietly wondering, "If God
is with me, why are all these things happening to me?" Why am I
suffering not
being blessed?"
Even in the prosperous times, Gideon had not become great because he
said
how insignificant he and his family were, and he felt that in himself
there
was no way that he could deliver anyone. He certainly didn't feel like
he
qualified as "God's mighty man of the hour!" But,
the Lord told him to go, not in his own might, but to go and deliver
God's
people knowing that
the Lord God had sent him and that He would be with him. Over his
lifetime,
and especially
those past seven years, Gideon had stayed faithful and humble, as God
had
preserved and prepared him for such a time as this.
When you don't understand the hardship and suffering going on in your
life, but you have stayed faithful to the Lord through it all, and when
you have
repented of all known sin and have allowed the Lord to chastise you,
and you
feel like you are probably a complete failure...
get ready for God to use you, thou mighty man/woman of valor. There are
many
that need deliverance all around you! God knows where you are at, just
like
He knew where Gideon was when He was looking for someone to use
mightily.
All we have to do is look at all the turmoil in our land to realize
that
that time is coming very soon, if it is not already here, when God will
look
for His mighty people of valor to lead our nation
back to Him.
