Strength out of Weakness

 

Hebrews 11: 32-34

As you read the Bible you must set your mind on this command; “think on these things” how else is the Holy Spirit of God going to get our attention?  To ponder is to think about what you have read in a careful way over a period of time.  Often, it is how my morning begins and today is no exception, and my hope is you also will ponder this Scripture.  “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

My first thoughts were that they only made honorable mention in God’s Hall of Fame, and these were great men of character who had one thing in common: through faith they were made strong out of weakness.  That fly’s in the face of how most of us were taught, do you remember a dad, coach, or drill sergeant telling you this line; “When it gets tough, the tough get going.”  What I find so different from our culture is that these men of valor were not confident in their ability or skill-set, they by faith believed the God who they had not seen with human eyes, but had come to trust and obey His voice and commands.

To make that point we should look at the first one on this list, Gideon, a son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, and at the time the angel of the Lord spoke to him he is hiding out from the Midianites in the winepress beating out wheat.  You and I would not look to this man to deliver a nation, but God is not like us, God is not like our culture, and there in lies our problem.  It is so important for all who are in Christ to believe what God has said to us and about us, look at what he said to Gideon: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”  (Judges 6:12)  Now the angel of God has just called him a mighty man of valor and listen to Gideon’s reply; “And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us?”  (Judges 6:13 a)  Gideon goes on asking why this had all happen when he is told by the Lord; “And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you.”  (Judges 6:14)  So Gideon jumps up and goes to war with the Midianites, wrong. 

At this place in the story I can identify with Gideon; “And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel?  Behold my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”  And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16)  Often I have the same kind of faith in a big God as Gideon, I need or want a sign, and like Gideon, often I need it to fall in the impossible.  Gideon’s first assignment was to destroy the altar of Baal the false god that the people were worshipping.  Now when God calls a man to such a task, it is not going to be accepted by the idolaters, and in Gideon’s case they came to kill him.  But God put into his fathers heart words something like these; (if Baal is a god, let him defend himself) and the people gave Gideon a new name; Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

Often when a man is young and goes from being regarded as unimportant to importance in his on sight, and the eyes of his neighbors or community, they often believe the press clipping.  But God has a way of keeping his man on point, and to make sure Gideon knew it was God who defeated the Midianites.  God did a simple act of reducing his army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred.  And after winning the battle, the people ask him to rule over them, but he refused in chapter 8:23, “And Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”  What a wise man, but it only came about from his understanding that through faith, they were made strong out of weakness.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice