When Deed and Josh stopped by they had some ribs that he had smoked the day before.  Carla and I had a great feast last night of ribs and salad. 

Judges 6:11-16  And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

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, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

¹⁴ And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?

¹⁵ And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.

¹⁶ And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Gideon was not a man that others would look at and say, “here is a great leader, look at all he has done, let us follow him.”  He was the youngest of a very poor family – yet, God used Him.

Not someone who would ordinarily be looked upon for any leadership abilities.  Probably just the opposite would be true; others would look at him in disdain because of his lowly stature.

God wanted to use Gideon – and his low status in the community - to show God’s power, to show God’s abilities.  Gideon was able to raise up an army of 32,000 men – a very sizeable force in any day.  So, he was able to garner support for the battle.  But God didn’t want a large number in Gideon’s army:

Judges 7:2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

Eventually the 32,000 was winnowed down to 300 men.  And he was going to lead them into battle against many thousand.

Judges 7:12 And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude.

Even with 32,000 warriors military strategists would declare they were looking at a formidable enemy and probably would have decided not to attack them.  But Gideon was to go against them with 300 men with weapons that only God could use – of course that was God’s point.

Verse 16 And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.

Verse 22 And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man's sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

They did what they were told to do and God used it to destroy the enemy who actually turned on each other, and fled from the 300.

The dead of night – quiet and calm and then suddenly the noise of the trumpets, the shouting, the breaking of the pitchers thus exposing the lamps with such suddenness caused confusion and fear in the enemy.

This was God’s battle, not Gideon’s.  Gideon was but a tool along with his 300 men.  God wanted to remind and make it clear to the Israelites that He can use even the least among them to accomplish great things.

There are many lessons in the story of Gideon, of course, but what I think of today is that God took a man, reluctant at first, who had neither abilities nor credentials to lead men and used him for God’s Glory.  Gideon needed convincing that God wanted him to lead, but once he was convinced, he went forward and didn’t look back.

God wants to have relevance in the lives of His people.  He wants to be involved in our lives.  He wants to help His people overcome our fears and the enemy.  He is willing to use extraordinary means to do it.  He but needs Christians that are willing to listen to Him and then to do what He tells them to do.

Many times we look at our fears – whatever that may be – and see something that appears insurmountable.  We see through eyes of fear and discouragement, and believe that we cannot succeed in overcoming them.  Satan uses those fears; he uses our disbelief in what God can do, against us.  We become hollow inside and fail to act on the knowledge we have that God can indeed overcome all obstacles. 

God wants to give us miracles.  He not only proved that many times over in the Old Testament, but He showed that same desire in the New Testament.  Jesus performed miracles that convince men to turn to Him; to follow Him; to listen and learn from Him and eventually to serve Him after His resurrection.

Luke 5:4-9 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.

⁵ And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.

⁶ And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

⁷ And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

⁹ For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:

What if Gideon had not decided to obey God?  He probably would have gone on about his life, doing mundane tasks, squeaking out a living and have missed the life God had in store for him.

Instead he did obey and became one of the most powerful men in Jewish history.  He was a man, used by God, to demonstrate God’s desire to help His people.

What if Peter had told Jesus it is no use, we can’t get fish, we have tried all night – THIS is MY profession and I know what I am doing.  I am going home and going to bed, I am tired.

He would have missed the opportunity to grow and to serve Christ.  He would have missed the blessings that he received from that service.  And we would have not had him as a respected leader of the early church and an example to all Christians throughout the ages.

God’s hands were on these two men.  They had such faith in God that it was apparent to all that knew them.  Both men had their detractors, but both men were proved by God and because of them others were saved and given freedom.

In this world we have charlatans that are striving to prove that they are the answer to the world’s problems.  Some, by the very nature of their actions show that they have no intent to listen, let alone serve, God.

But there are others out there, others that satan is using to stir the pot of discontent and proclaim that they are the ‘true’ believers, yet they don’t serve God, they are being used by satan.  False prophets, false teachers who have charisma or looks or other talents that satan uses to draw people to them – but they don’t truly serve God.

But, God does have leaders who He is entrusting to preach His gospel, to lead His children in righteousness; men and women who stand up for Christ, no matter the oppression used against them, and bring people to Him.

We are in a spiritual battle as bad, or maybe even worse, as any generation of people has faced.  Men, women, children are losing their lives in the persecution that is being used against His Church. 

But just as He raised a Gideon, just as He captured the heart of Peter, there are men and women He is asking to come forward and follow Him – even if it would appear impossible – and believe that in God, nothing is impossible.

We are all Gideon’s or Peter’s to some degree.  God is asking us to believe in Him and to obey Him.  He wants to use us for His Glory.

The only limitation we have is our faith in Him to support us.  We either do and receive His blessings or don’t and never experience what God can do in our lives.

Will He bring up believers and give them the stature of Gideon and Peter?  He can, He just needs willing servants that have their faith in Him and completely trust Him.  Believers that are not concerned about how well they do, but how well they follow Him and do so for HIS Glory, not their own.

And He needs Christians to discern the difference and to support those leaders and their mission for Him.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again