God Gave him Opportunity to Enlarge the Army (Judges 7:23-25)

1/13/2010 9:06 AM

SPIRITUAL DIARY

My Worship Time           Focus:  God gave him opportunity to enlarge the army

Bible Reading & Meditation               Reference:  Judges 7:23-25

            Message of the verses:  “23 ¶  And the men of Israel gathered themselves together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after the Midianites.  24  And Gideon sent messengers throughout all mount Ephraim, saying, Come down against the Midianites, and take before them the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan. Then all the men of Ephraim gathered themselves together, and took the waters unto Bethbarah and Jordan.  25  And they took two princes of the Midianites, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb upon the rock Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian, and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon on the other side Jordan.”

            As Dr. Wiersbe writes in his commentary on Judges, “Be Available” Gideon began at a winepress where the Lord came to him to give him a job, and now it ends at a winepress where the enemy prince was slain there. 

            Gideon called others to the battle and the response was great as men from other tribes came to chase the Midianites and to defeat them so that the victory was great, and the victory was of the Lord for He was the One who answered the prayers of the children of Israel and gave them a leader and a small group of soldiers to defeat the enemy of the children of Israel and of the Lord.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have mentioned on different occasions that one of my favorite characters in the Bible is Balaam’s donkey, and the reason that she is one of my favorite characters is that she was available to do the work of the Lord, and she did it just as the Lord gave her the voice to speak to Balaam with the words that He wanted him to hear.  As I began to study the book of Judges I was not so sure how well that I would like it because of all of the violence that is in it, and mostly because of the downward plunge of the spiritual life of the children of Israel and that is a depressing thing to read about.  Now that I am in this book all the way to the end of the seventh chapter I have finally recognized that there are a lot of “Balaam’s donkeys” who are in this wonderful book, people like Gideon who were available to do the work of the Lord and came to the call when He called them.  This story of Gideon is a story about faith, and a story of availability to the Lord.  Dr. Wiersbe writes:  “The church today can also learn from this event and be encouraged by it.  God doesn’t need large numbers to accomplish His purposes, nor does He need especially gifted leaders.  Gideon and his 300 men were available for God to use, and He enabled them to conquer the enemy and bring peace to the land.  When the church starts to depend on ‘bigness’—big buildings, big crowds, big budgets—then faith become misplaced, and God can’t give His blessing.  When leaders depend on their education, skill, and experience rather than in God, then God abandoms them and looks for a Gideon.

            “The important thing is for us to be available for God to use just as He sees fit.  We may not fully understand His plans but we can fully trust His promises; and it’s faith in Him that gives the victory.”

My Steps of Faith for Today:

1. I want my life to be a clean vessel before the Lord so that I can be available to the Lord to be used of Him whenever, and whatever He wants me to do.

1/13/2010 9:37 AM