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I Will Be With You

This week Nate was reading our fam the story of Gideon.  Such a wonderful story of victory, faith, and...fear?  Yep, Gideon had a lot of fear...but, it was what he chose to do with that fear that made him  one of the heroes of the faith.

Here's the story paraphrased by me....
Israel had again done evil in the eyes of the Lord...surprise, surprise...and for six years they had been oppressed by the Midianites.  The Midianites ravaged their lives. Finally, after being "reduced to starvation" they cried out to the Lord.

On the scene comes Gideon, threshing wheat in a wine press, the most unexpected place...living in fear... trying to keep his family alive.

The Angel of the LORD appears to Gideon and says, "The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior". Gideon's first response was, "Huh?  Are you crazy?  The Lord is with me? Look at everything that has happened to us.  How can the Lord be here? I had heard about the miracles of the Lord, but they surely aren't happening now.  Nope, the Lord has forgotten us!"

God calls the obedient...Gideon was hot, sweaty, scraping to provide for His family...being obedient.  God calls us as we're being obedient, just walking with Him.  ("Whoever can be trusted with very little, can be trusted with much."  Luke 16:10)

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?"

"But, Lord, how can I save Israel?  My family is the weakest and I am the least in my family."

 God calls the least.  If He's calling you, rest assured that you're probably the most unlikely candidate for the job.  God wants to bring glory to His name.  And, He allows us to be the instruments He uses.

The Lord said to him, "I will be with you and you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man."

God can handle our fears...as long as we take them to Him.  Gideon was honest with the Lord.  God longs to meet us in those dark places, calm our fears and say, "I WILL BE WITH YOU!"

The fear isn't over in this story...Gideon will need a lot more assurance of God's call, as we'll find out later.

God's call for me right now, in this moment, is scary.  Everyday relying on Him for a job I am completely unfit to do.  He did the calling...I have to believe that He'll do the empowering and continue to calm my fears each step of the way.

Lord, thank you for this precious call...I trust you for this moment, for your sweet Presence in the midst of the fear. I hear You whispering, "I will be with you!" and I rest.


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