‘FACING OUR GIANTS’ with GOD’s HELP!
March 13 Bible
Reading: Judges Chapters 4-6
‘FACING OUR GIANTS’ with GOD’s HELP!
Then
the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall
save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" So he
said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the
weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the
Lord said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the
Midianites as one man." (Judges 6:14-16)
'Facing the Giants' is a heart-touching movie created by
a US church in 2006 that tells the story of a losing coach with an underdog
football team as they face their ‘giants
of fear and failure’ on and off the field, but achieves surprising results at
the end through their trust in God. Similar to this is the story of Gideon, a wheat
farmer-turned-military leader, who delivered Israel from the Midianites after
being oppressed by them for seven long
years.
This
oppression by the Midianites probably occurred around 1200 BC, and God Himself
(referred to as the Angel of the Lord) appeared to Gideon with strong words of
encouragement to get him off his fears (vv. 12, 16). This happened when Gideon
was literally beating out the grain from the wheat husks inside a winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites, fearing that they would steal it if he
were caught. We can see Gideon literally
afraid and hiding from his enemy
in the opening act of his story.
Gideon was
an unlikely candidate for God’s “Hall of
Fame” (Heb. 11:32). Throughout the story line, Gideon appears to be afraid and fearful (vs. 11, 22, 27). He doubted the promise of the angel of
the Lord; he constantly asked for signs and fleeces; he was afraid to throw
down the altar of Baal, which he did it by night when no one was around, etc.
When God reminded Gideon that he would be the next Judge-Deliverer, he began to make excuses for himself immediately.
He objected that his family in Manasseh was poor
and that he was least in his father’s
house. In essence, he was saying that he was not qualified for this task, neither was his family, and neither
was his tribe. Nevertheless, God promised that He would be with him and that he
and the Israelites would destroy the Midianites “as one man” (v. 16b).
God actually
pointed to Gideon’s potential as a mighty deliverer through His enabling power (v. 15). In view of Gideon’s
situation and his slowness to act, this was more
a word of anticipation than a statement of fact. God saw the potential in
Gideon, and even called him a “mighty man
of valor” (v. 12). Finally, he could “face
his giants” with God’s help!
We too can
face any fears in our lives when we know that God is on our side. All we have
to do is trust and obey God implicitly. God will help us to accomplish all that
He asks us to do. God sees the potential in us, and says to us as He did to
Simon Peter: “You are . . .You shall be”
(John 1:42). God knows our weaknesses and will accommodate Himself to our needs
so that He can develop our faith in the process!
For someone
like Gideon who was so fearful and worried, he built and altar to the Lord (v.
24) and called it YHWH Shalom (“The-Lord-Is-Peace”). We too can enjoy the God’s
peace today as we lay our fears and worries upon God through prayer, and boldly
“face our giants” with God’s help and
the peace that He only can give us!
