You Are The Answer

It's Day 22 of DWG and Gideon is the highlight of today.

My takeaway is that we are the answer to someone's cry for help. In Judges 6, the Israelites were being oppressed by Midian for 7 years. It says Israel was at a low point and so they cried out to God. In answer, God first sent them an unnamed prophet to speak on His behalf and remind them that He is God.

I love reading about these unnamed people in the Bible. They were just as important and significant as the named people. We may never have influence and no one may ever know who we are, but God can still use us on His behalf.

Gideon was God's answer to deliver the Israelites from the Midianites. He felt unqualified because he was young and his family was the least in Manasseh. He felt abandoned by God. He was afraid of his family and the men in his city. But God called out the warrior in Gideon and called him into battle.

Gideon's calling required risk. It required he go into battle and lay his life on the line to save his people and fulfill God's plan. It required that he go into dangerous places.

God's calling for us may be the same. It may seem scary and it may make us uncomfortable. But God never called us to be comfortable. He didn't call us to be safe. He didn't call us to sit on the sidelines or on social media and debate about the injustices and atrocities in our world.

He's called us to fight a spiritual battle and that battle will involve a certain amount of risk. Are we willing to go into the dark, scary unknown places knowing that it could mean our lives?

Many of us want a calling, but if we knew what God had planned for our lives, we'd probably run screaming. Some of us are probably already running from God because we're afraid of what He may want us to do.

We live in dark, turbulent times, just as Gideon did. There are people crying out to God, at this very moment, for freedom, rescue and hope. What if you're the answer to their cry for help? What if you are the mighty warrior that God wants to send to deliver them? Or perhaps your contribution to their plight is simply to remind them who God is.

Gideon's heart was burdened by the state of affairs, as evidenced in the following verse:

Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ~ Judges 6:13

If it's burdening your heart, and it's making you question God or wonder where's the justice, it's probably because God wants you to do something about it. Don't be surprised if that's the very thing that God's calling you to do. So what's burdening you?

In Judges 7, 22,000 people did not join the battle because they were afraid and trembling. At least they were honest. But, let's not miss out on God's calling for us because we were too afraid.

"The Lord is with you." "Go in the strength you have." "Surely I will be with you." "Peace to you, do not fear."