God is with us? Seriously?

Corporately the people of Israel did not listen to God.There was good news though. There was a remnant of people who still understood that following God was crucial to having any kind of real life, free from oppresion and hopelessness.

God sends an angel in response to the prayers of His people. The angel of the Lord is sent with a purpose. To meet with the man, Gideon. So what was happening in the life of Gideon when the angel appeared to him. He was hiding from the Midianites, threshing wheat so the Midianites wouldn't sweep in and steal that from them too.

My guess is that Gideon was tired of having to live in this type of situation. I think he was probably praying to God often for his deliverance. Little did he know that he would be the one to deliver Gods people from their oppresion. In fact God viewed him much different than he viewed himself.

When the angel talks to Gideon in v. 12 the angel says" The Lord is with, you mighty warrior." Gideons response is very telling. He certainly does not agree with the assessment being made of him or the sitution of his people. He starts by using the word BUT. But if the Lord is with us, what in the world is going on all around us.

You know in life there are things that happen all around us and we wonder where is God. In Christian circles we hear those words often, "God is with you". We look around and say,"OK, BUT". Well the truth is God is with us. He is with us more than we know. It may not feel like it but it is something we can count on. As we will see God is indeed with Gideon and has never left him or his people.

Gideon continues his reply, and I will summarize. You can read it yourself in v. 13, he basically says, "we have heard about his miracles but I haven't seen them lately. In fact if anything the Lord has left us to ourselves abandoned and alone. We have to fight the Midianites ourselves, so where is the Lord in this situation?" Now maybe thats a rough translation but I hope we can catch the point. Gideon is frustrated, disillusioned and questioning whether God is really all others have claimed him to be.

I think that if we were honest we would agree we have all been there. Life is challenging and difficult sometimes for all of us. We wonder "where is God, can I really trust Him?" You can!!!

Was Gideon really a mighty warrior? The Lord said so, but did Gideon really believe it? He was, he just didn't know it yet. Tomorrow we will look at the man Gideon.