April 27, 2011

4-27-11 Wednesday, 6:15 am Springfield, 51 degrees, cloudy, storms forecasted for today.

This is a very interesting weather pattern occurring. We have had more than a week of storms, and they are predicted for the next several days. Flooding is widespread, and will only get worse. I was able to ride the Kawasaki to church yesterday, but took the car back in the evening for the life group leaders’ banquet. Our day with Doug Anderson was quiet fruitful. He is a very good consultant/coach.

Judges 7:1 – 8:17

The story of Gideon continues. After testing God with the fleece, twice, he leads the men into battle. God tells him that he has too many soldiers, and if they defeated the Midians, they would “boast to Me that they saved themselves by their own strength” (verse 2). This is a danger and problem down through history, and especially prevalent in my generation. God’s instructions to Gideon whittled his army down to 300 men. When they defeated the 135,000 man army, it was clear that God truly had been the one who gave the victory.

In the aftermath of this tremendous victory, there were petty personal issues. For example, the people of Ephraim complained that he did not send for them when he first went out to battle. He noted that the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest were better than the entire crop from his little clan. He pointed out that “God gave you victory over Oreb and Zeeb … what have I accomplished compared to that?” (8:2-3) He also had trouble with the officials in the towns of Succoth and Peniel, who refused to give his 300 exhausted men provisions until they actually captured the enemy. Gideon would return to these towns after he captured Zebah and Zalmunna and punish the leaders in Succoth, and kill all the men in Peniel.

My takeaway this morning is twofold: God is powerful and is the one who accomplishes great victory, even though humans are very prone to take credit for their own salvation; secondly, even in the midst of the great working of God among the people there is pettiness, selfishness, and complaining. Guide my steps today, most Holy Lord as I walk into this day aware of your great power, and also of my tendency to trust in my own strength, to have difficulty believing You are up to a great miraculous work, and that even so, people will complain and be petty.