Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Travel steadily along his path...



"Put your hope in the Lord.  Travel steadily along his path."  Psalm 37:34 NLT

I love the story of Gideon.  Do you know it?

Judges 6:11-14 gives the account.  11"The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.  12When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'  13'But sir,' Gideon replied, 'if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?  Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian. 14 The Lord turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have...Am I not sending you?"

Gideon was hiding in the winepresses.  He was by his own account from the weakest tribe in Manasseh, and he was, the least in his family.  The tribes were in the middle of a great battle; a battle that seemed insurmountable.  Yet the angel of the Lord called him a mighty warrior. 

Gideon asked, "if the Lord is with us, why has all of this happened?"  To be honest, there are moments in this journey when I feel a lot like Gideon.  I feel like I am the weakest of the weak, and I wonder, if God is for me, why has this happened?  If so many are praying, then why has the Lord "abandoned us?"

But the Lord has not abandoned us.  I just read yesterday one woman's brilliant testimony.  She said, in short, "The adversary doesn't taunt me every day because he thinks God is not able.  He taunts me every day, rather, because he knows God IS able!" I understand this!  This is what fuels me day by day - the knowing that God IS able!

What I love about this story of Gideon is that the angel of the Lord said to him, "Go in the strength you have!  Am I not sending you?"

If God calls us to something, he will equip us for the battle.  We do not have to be strong or brave or brilliant.  We do not have to be famous or popular or courageous.  We only have to go in the strength we have, knowing that the Lord himself is sending us, and that He will be victorious!

Many days my physical strength seems to fail me.  I simply remind myself to put my hope in the Lord and to continue to travel steadily along his path.  I go in the strength that I have knowing that He has sent me and that He is able.

Only By His Grace,

Billie



2 comments:

  1. Amen, Sister! I am greatly encouraged to run to Jesus as I read this. My heart has been heavy in a few ways concerning things I have no control over. He is so kind to remind me that His "able" hands take care of our every needs even when we feel helpless in them! I love you, and continue to pray for you.

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    1. Kristy, I pray you will have the peace that passes understanding on the journey you have been given to travel. He is able to keep that which you have committed unto Him until that day! Peace be with you! Blessings, friend!

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