Judges 6:13, 14

"And Gideon said unto him, O my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have not I sent thee?"

Judges 6 details the beginning of the ministry of the judge, Gideon. Things had gotten bad in Israel as the Midianites were sent by God to overtake them. The Israelites, it is said, did evil again in the sight of the LORD. When they again realized that they were in difficulty, the LORD sent a prophet to remind them that while He led them out of Egypt, they ignored His commands. And so this thing was come upon them.

After the words of the prophet an angel is sent to Gideon. The Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east had banded together to take all of the food in Israel. Even as it was being harvested, Israel's enemies came and took it away, along with livestock. For fear of these bands of enemies, Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. Here is where the angel finds him, and tells him that he is the one that will deliver Israel out of the hands of their enemies. The LORD would use Gideon for this purpose.

In verses 13 and 14 is recorded Gideon's response to the message. Gideon states that God had forsaken Israel. The fact that he had to thresh wheat in a wine press was evidence of that. He even challenges the angel concerning God's dealings with Israel in the past. God had performed great miracles on their behalf, bringing them out of Egypt. Gideon had heard all about them. But no more. Israel was now forsaken by God. Of course, the reason this was so was because of their own sin. They had turned their back on Him, and gone after idols, doing great evil. But Gideon's argument falls flat because now God WAS going to do something. He had just told Gideon so. And He had told him that he was the one that was going to lead Israel in the process.

What is interesting is the angel does not even answer Gideon's questions. He does not acknowledge his statements, neither does he discuss with Gideon the reason for Israel's current problems. He merely repeats the command with the reminder, "Have not I sent thee?"

Is there a thing that the LORD would have you to do? Is there something that you know is His will, and you have been putting it off? Are your reasonings like Gideon's? "Where are God's great miracles?" By the end of his work for the LORD Gideon did indeed see some great miracles. With 300 men he was able to defeat an army that numbered in the hundreds of thousands. But he first had to take up the task at hand. The miracles came when they were needed most. Gideon did everything he did by the LORD's enabling, and so can you. What is your response to God's leading? Stop the excuses and take up the task. He is the one that will strengthen unto it. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

"Trust and obey
For there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to Trust and Obey."

HJK