Judges 6:13-24 “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.”
Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
“Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.
The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”
Imagine it: you and everyone you know have been oppressed for seven years and you’re crouching over a wine press, trying to look casual and NOT like you’re threshing wheat as you watch for a group of raiders to come over the hill.
Then someone you’ve never met before shows up and says “the Lord is with you”.
You might be a bit… skeptical? You might ask a few questions. If you’re like me, you might even be a little bit sarcastic. “Dude, look around!”
Whatever his tone was, we know that Gideon’s response to the angel’s appearance was to ask questions. The crazy thing is, this person who turned out to be the Lord Himself didn’t seem to be fazed at all by all these questions. In fact, with each question, the Lord gave him a little more information with each response.
“Go in the strength you have”
“Am I not sending you?”
“I will be with you…”
“…you will strike down the Midianites”
Gideon got some pretty unexpected answers to his questions and he decided to test this person through an offering of meat and bread. The Lord accepted the offering by consuming it miraculously with fire (Judges 6:21).
The first step in learning to totally rely on God is believing in Him.
It’s okay to ask questions, even hard ones. You might even be surprised by the answers.
“When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”” Judges 6:22 NIV
Do you believe that God is real and that He is here and He is calling you right now?
“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 NIV
Pray:
God is calling you. Before you pray – think about questions you may have. Maybe they’re “why” questions, or maybe “how” questions. The answers may come in the form of a whisper in your heart, or in a conversation with a friend, or in a sermon on Sunday, or from Scripture.
“Lord God – reveal Yourself to me. <ask questions>. I want to rely more on You every day. Help me to listen for Your voice and to see You at work in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.”
