Judges 6:1, 13-16 NIV“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. “Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”” https://bible.com/bible/111/jdg.6.1-14.NIV
When life is hard and bad things occur, we blame God, questioning His goodness and loyalty to us. However, it is we who are not good and we who are not loyal to the Lord. We often blame God instead of taking responsibility for our actions. Israel disobeyed God by worshipping other gods and ignored the commands of the One True God. The promised blessing of the Lord was theirs if only they always obeyed God and worshipped no one else. They consistently failed to keep allegiance to their God. But God is merciful, and so He took the initiative to save Israel again. When He came to Gideon, God was asked about His former wonders. These wonders were the miraculous hand of God working through the obedient servant of God. Gideon was looking for God to work around Him but not through Him. Gideon forgot that Moses was weak, but he appeared strong when he obeyed God, and God demonstrated His power through him. As Gideon demonstrated faith and obedience, he experienced more of the wonders of God that he was looking to see from Him. This, too, can be our experience. We are not promised blessings in this life if we always obey God. We are promised persecution in this life if we obey God always but great reward in the next life when we suffer for the Name of Jesus. Too few want these rewards, as evidenced by our reluctance in the marketplace to identify with Jesus. The disciples of Jesus will experience much of Jesus when they place glorifying Jesus first in their lives. Like Jesus and His first disciples, the world is hostile toward those who live and proclaim Jesus as the only way, the truth, and the life. This is the life of the obedient follower of Jesus, to make disciples and receive the crown of life waiting for all those but only those who will faithfully serve Jesus all their days, even while experiencing difficulties in this world.
RUN TODAY’S PLAY: God works through our weakness when we stop blaming Him and start obeying Him
