“And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”” – Judges 6:13
Have you ever reached the point where you despaired of God’s promises? You knew the words of Scripture but doubted their truth because you felt like God is nowhere to be found? Clearly Gideon had reached that point when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him. He knew that God was with them in theory but years of devastating oppression had led him to deep doubt. How could God be with them? Why would He let bad things happen to His people? How come none of the great miracles of the past were happening anymore?
WE can sound like Gideon at times! The irony of the story is that Gideon was despairing precisely when God had appeared to turn the tide… through him. God had disciplined His people for their unfaithfulness and let them suffer the consequences as He’d promised. Now, He was about to rescue them and the agent of His divine work was full of despair. God had approached Gideon to make him the catalyst for Israel’s rescue and Gideon was discouraged and cynical. Nonetheless, God was about to turn the tide.
God will permit His people to go through long and difficult seasons for many reasons. You may be in one right now. He can do this to guide us to repentance or to build our faith. He may do this as a result of sin or the result of living in fallen world plagued by the sin of others. Don’t despair! God’s promises are rock-solid and His timing is perfect. Often, the moment we’re most tempted to doubt God’s activity, goodness, or presence is precisely when He chooses to reverse the course of events. Don’t despair! As Christians, Jesus promised He is with us and will never forsake us. He won’t! Ever! Rather than give in to gloom and doom, devote yourself increasingly to fervent prayer, confident that when the time is right, God WILL turn things around, perhaps through you! #FollowJesus