I noticed it in
earnest Wednesday as I was on the road. In front of me was a Red Bud tree in
bloom. In my mind that is THE sign of Spring in the south Georgia. I had seen
some of the early azaleas in bloom here and there but that Red Bud tree
confirmed what the azaleas were whispering. What do you use for confirmation? How
do you confirm a hunch or suspicion? How do you double check a word from God? Let’s
consider the story of Gideon.
Israel had gone back to their path
of sin and so were no under oppression. Some have painted a picture of their
situation using the movie Ants. Israel is represented by the ants and the
Midianites are the grasshoppers. Israel would plant and work the ground and
Midian would come in and take what they wanted. Under this extreme existence Gideon
is found threshing wheat in a wine press to hide from the Midianites.
12 Then the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said: “The Lord is with
you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:12 HCSB
He looks very
brave indeed! Gideon asks for a sign that he is God and the LORD gives it striking
fear in Gideon’s heart as he had seen God.
The enemies of Israel amass in
the Valley of Jezreel ready for war. Gideon is not sure if he can do it. He is
not mighty and his family is the smallest and the leastest and the ….. you know
how that goes. So he asks God for a sign. Not looking to the heavens or nature
or facebook or you know again. No, He asks God for confirmation. Is that what
you would do? How about first?
36 Then Gideon said
to God, “If You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You said, 37 I will put a fleece of wool here on the threshing
floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know
that You will deliver Israel by my strength, as You said.” 38 And that is what happened. When he got up early
in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl
with water. Judges 6:36-38 HCSB
Not
being sure Gideon asks again. Really, again the next night. This guy is a
mighty warrior indeed, NOT. He is more like you and I…Isn’t he? We struggle
taking God at his word. We look to all kinds of sources and people for what to
do and when and never or at least only in the end ask God for direction. We
pray “God go with us” or “God be with us” when he never leaves us. He is ALWAYS
there. What we need to pray for is our eyes, ears and hearts to be open to see,
hear and experience his presence. We need to pray for him to reveal his next
direction as we follow.
While
we are at it let’s be sure to check our sources of confirmation. In prayer God
directs, in Scripture God will confirm, in life He will reconfirm, in THAT
order. He is a GREAT leader and used Gideon who apart from God was not a
warrior to defeat the enemies of Israel when they cried out to the Lord. Read
chapter 7 and see how the Lord did it. It’s amazing.
In
HIS service and Yours,
BroG
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