Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:22-35 (day one)
Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Judges 6:22-35 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “JUDGES – God, Our Deliverer.”
Bad Things and Good People
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day seven)
Why do bad things happen to good people? I would expect that everyone has pondered on this question in their faith journey. Why would God allow for wicked to prevail while the good people continually end up in bad circumstances? Why does the mother of three get cancer? Why did that drunk driver live while the teenager he hit is now in a coma? Why did the man who had been loyal to the company for 20 years get laid off? They were Christians. They prayed. They went to church. They all echo Gideon in verse 13, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”
Bad things are a product of the brokenness of this world. Not that any one person deserves a harsher life on this earth due to their sin, but because of humanity’s sin, this earth will never function as it was intended. Bad things happen to non-christians too. Where Christian’s hold the advantage is that we know the best is yet to come…
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 2 Cor 4:17
Do Something
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day six).
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” Judges 6:14
It sure doesn’t seem like the Lord is with us! Do you know what it is like out there? (Judges 6:13)Gideon responded to his visitor with a complaint, and an observation. Things were not well. If only God would do something.
Little did Gideon know that God did intend to do something…by commissioning him to be the deliverer..
We tend to complain in just the same way. When things aren’t well, or not going the way we would like (big or small), we often look to others to take action, when often enough the problem and solution is staring us in the face.
Just as God sent Gideon to do something about their situation, could it be he is also sending you?
Do something.
Remember
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day five). He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
Gideon’s response to the Lord at first glance seems like a bunch of excuses. I guess to some degree it is. But, if you look a little deeper, what you may sense and see is that Gideon had forgotten his identity- loved by God, rescued by God, in covenant with God, accompanied by God. So, the Lord begins to remind him of his identity- I am (will be) with you. Jesus does the same thing in the New Testament to His followers- “I will never leave you or forsake you”. When God’s promised presence helps us shape our identity, we begin to find hope, courage, potential, and joy. We must first remember who He is and the promises He has made to us.
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;” Isaiah 43
Reality?
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day four)
Like many times before and many times after, when God chose a deliverer for Israel, He did not choose the most powerful, most talented warrior. When Gideon first is introduced, he is hiding from the enemy in the wine press. Here he is, hiding, and the angel of the Lord addresses him as a valiant warrior. Gideon’s view of reality did not match the angel’s…he questioned first the presence of the Lord and then he questioned his own abilities.
We may be hard on Gideon for questioning the Lord, but don’t we do the same thing? God tells us something in Scripture like ‘ask and I will hear and answer’, or ‘it is better to give than to receive’ and we manage to discount the words and reinterpret them to match our reality. This is idolatry. Whose reality are we going to believe…our own or God’s? For Gideon’s part, at least he came to the point of obedience…after the Lord looked at him!
You
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day three)
“But now the Lord has abandoned us.”
One of the most common phrases ever to make the rounds through the years in evangelical circles is this one: “Love the sinner, hate the sin.” The only problem with that is that it places an awful lot of faith in one’s ability to know where the sin ends and the person begins. That’s why in practice it just feels like “hate the sinner.” And then, it’s easy to project onto God that same way of assessing persons. If God hates sin, he’s surely going to hate you. Can you imagine that God would actually be very different than that? Gideon couldn’t. God’s big revelation to Gideon, though, is that people are not their sin. Therefore, God had never lost track of Gideon. Or Israel. Nor has God lost track of you.
Unexpected
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day two)
Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak…vs. 11a
If we can be sure of anything in regards to how the Lord communicates, it is to look for him in any situation. Our images of messengers from heaven are likely tied directly to the Christmas story, am I right? Hillsides blazing with light and a heavenly host filling the night sky. This is how to make a heavenly visitation! If we’re not careful we miss those subtle and intimate meetings that are meant just for us. Sometimes messengers come in the heat of the day Genesis 18 . Sometimes in the most incredible part of mankind’s story, they are just sitting on a stone waiting John 20
God is definitely found in those grand and glorious gestures and moments in the Bible, but he is also the God who created the leaf, the stream, the wispy cloud; sometimes he’s sent a message that is sitting under a tree waiting to have a conversation with you. Look up, look around, and find the Lord.
Monday Re:Verse Blog – 7/5/2021
Re:Verse passage – Judges 6:1-16 (day one)
Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through Judges 6:1-16 in our Summer Re:Verse Series: “JUDGES – God, Our Deliverer.”
Leadership
Re:Verse passage – Judges 4:4-23, 5:7, 24-27 (day seven)
Whether we realize it or not, each one of us are leaders. God has entrusted Christians with the Gospel to be missionaries to our workplace, to our homes, to our friend groups, etc. In these circles, we are leaders. Even if we are not the “boss” in these circles, our Christlikeness draws people to us. I expect this is similar to what Deborah experienced.
Being a woman in a patriarchal society, I doubt Deborah was looking to be a Judge for all of Israel. People came to her under her tree not because of her physical traits, but because of her Godly wisdom. She gained leadership from Godliness, and she maintained leadership from humbleness. She empowered those around her, knowing others strengths and her own limitations. She pointed all glory back to God, not on herself. She culminates her leadership in thankfulness. Her song to the Lord is full of thanks for what He did to deliver Israel.
In your leadership circles are you exuding Christlikeness? Are you wise, humble, and thankful? People are already following your lead, where are you leading them?
Sing!
Re:Verse passage – Judges 4:4-23, 5:7, 24-27 (day six)
On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song. Judges 5:1
[Totally shocked Aaron didn’t jump on the opportunity to write about the song! But, I will!]
Perhaps, the most natural and powerful thing to do in light of God’s deliverance is to sing! We don’t add to God’s glory when we sing; we rejoice in it. We reflect it. Maybe that is what it means to be made in the image of God. Maybe it means we are storytellers (in how we live and speak) of God’s glory most extravagantly seen in our own deliverance.
So, remember you were designed to be a story teller. You were made to sing!