Friday, July 15, 2011

Remember Who Your Father Is

“Sir,” Gideon replied, “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.” -- Judges 6:13

Have you ever felt like Gideon, abandoned by God and trying to figure out why? Most of us probably have. Of course, God never abandons us. It’s just that circumstances, whether it’s not getting something we want or losing someone we love, sometimes cause us to pull away from Him.

We want a miracle. We expect God to swoop in a save us from whatever it is that we’re facing. Sometimes He does. Sometimes He doesn’t. And sometimes He calls us to step up so He can use us to do His work.

That is a scary place indeed. It’s the place where you ask again and again if God truly expects you to do it. You. Gideon offered God what he thought was a reasonable excuse for not stepping up. “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” (Judges 6:15) As if God didn’t already know.

We want God to do something wonderful for us. We just don’t want to be involved until it’s time to take the glory and reap the rewards. God rarely works that way. Not that He couldn’t. He’d just prefer that we learn to trust Him along the way.

Yet we still doubt. The Bible tells us not to test God but Gideon did. First, he asked for a sign that the LORD was the One truly speaking to Him. God provided it. Then Gideon asked God to prove He was truly going to save Israel -- using Gideon -- by letting a wool fleece be wet with dew in the morning even though the ground was dry. God did. Then Gideon asked God to do the reverse. He did that too.

How many times have you asked God for a sign? Be honest now. We’ve all done it repeatedly. We want to be sure we’re doing what God wants us to do. So we ask. Then He gives us a sign or speaks to our hearts. But we’re still scared, so we ask again. Sometimes I wonder if God wouldn’t prefer to shake some sense into us rather than continue with our little song and dance routine.

Well, as we all know, Gideon was successful and He did lead a small army forward and they defeated the Midianites. And He gave God credit for the victory. Because, really, the victory did belong to God.

We forget sometimes, when we’re making excuses and doubting ourselves and God, that He can do anything. We see Him as something smaller than He is because we can’t imagine a God so great He can do anything -- including using an insignificant human to do great things for His people.

Next time you start making excuses, remember who your Creator is. Remember who your Father is. Remember who your God is. Then go forward with courage. He won't ever let you down.