God Calls the Unlikeliest of Servants

The book of Judges is one of the most exciting books of the Bible, in my opinion.  It's full of battles, bravery, and unlikely heroes.  And more importantly, it contains stories about God's righteous judgment, His mercy, and forgiveness.


Many chapters in the book begin with the phrase, "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord..."  Over and over God's people turned away from Him and worshiped the false gods of the people in whose land they were living.  Over and over God gave the people over to their enemies because they had abandoned Him.  Again and again the people pleaded with God to rescue them, so He sent people to care for them, rescue them from their enemies, and lead them into victorious battles.


Only when God was in charge of the Israelites did they win those battles.  And God almost always chose the unlikeliest of people to lead Israel.  One of those people was Gideon.  He, his family and their people were in a desperate situation.  The Midianites had taken over their land, destroyed all their crops and livestock, and forced Israel to flee to caves and hideouts in the mountains for refuge.  Israel was so afraid of Midian that when Gideon, the youngest of his father's sons, was given the job of threshing wheat, he had to do it in a winepress in order to not be seen by the Midianites (Judges 6:1-11).


It was this man, who had lost almost everything and living in constant fear, who God called to lead His people.


Gideon was reluctant.  He protested that he was too young and weak.  He asked where God had been, why He had abandoned His people to Midian (Judges 6:13-15).


God was patient.  He reassured Gideon.  He gave him instructions, and God also gave Gideon proof and signs that God would do what He had promised.  He would save Israel.


And he did.  Gideon gathered thirty-two thousand men from the tribes of Israel.  In order to make clear that God would save them, not Gideon, God instructed Gideon to pare down the army from the thirty-two thousand, to twenty-two thousand, to three hundred men.  Those three hundred were the men God used to rescue Israel from the Midianites.


(The battle story is an exciting one.  To read the whole thing, go to Judges chapter seven!)


Gideon and the Israelites are not unlike many believers in God today.  We often ignore His laws, and then question God as to why He has abandoned us--when it is not He who has left us, but we who have left Him.  Then, when he calls us to serve him, we protest that we are unable, that we need more proof from God that this is really what he wants us to do.
This is exactly what Israel did, and it is exactly what I see myself doing.
I don't always obey God.  Then, when I have troubles, I wonder why He's not getting me out of them.  It's not that He's turned away from me.  It's I who have turned away from Him!
He is gracious, and He still calls me his child.  He still has work for me to do.  But I question whether or not I can do it.
I'm just a young woman.  I don't have much experience in anything.  I don't have money to travel anywhere to share the Gospel.  I'm not that good of a writer.  I fail all the time as a wife.
I protest and find excuses why I'm not qualified to serve God.


Why do I think it's all about me?
God doesn't need me.  He has chosen me to serve Him, and to help fulfill His purposes.
He doesn't rely on MY strength to fulfill His will.  He gives me HIS strength!
No, Gideon wasn't qualified.
I'm not either.
But that doesn't matter to God.  We don't get in His way.
He gives us jobs to do, and then He gives us the means to do them.
All He does is ask that we are obedient.  That we listen to Him, and follow His calling.

And we can have faith that He will do what He has promised.
God will take care of us.  He will provide for us.  It will not always be in the way we imagine.  But it will be in the way that God knows is best, and that will bring Him glory.


Have you ever heard this phrase:
"God doesn't call the equipped.  He equips those He calls."
That was true for Gideon.
It is true for me.
AND it is true for you.

God has a plan for you.  You are someone He has chosen to help carry out His purposes.  Whatever He calls you to do, He will enable you to do it.
He is big, almighty, eternal, and all-powerful.  We can trust that He will keep His promises...just like he did for Gideon.

Linking with:

Trusting in God, who gives me what I REALLY need.

I was reading part of the book of Job today.  I want to read more the rest of the day, and then go over it again in the next few days.

Reading Job is at once humbling and encouraging.  "Who are you," God (basically) asks Job, "to think that you can criticize me or judge me for the way I do things?  Were you there when the universe was created?  Do you control the weather?  Do you know how everything holds together? NO.  So let me be God and you just trust me to take care of you."  That kind of sums up the several chapters of God lecturing Job.

That really got me thinking.  A journal/scrapbook my friend Sara made for me includes several quotes, pictures, poems, Scripture verses, etc, with room for me to add my own.  At the top of the first page it says "Psalm 103."  I looked that up and read it, and came across this verse:

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love."  Psalm 103:8

He is ALWAYS compassionate and gracious.  That doesn't change, ever.  It's not necessarily our definition of compassionate and gracious.  But God always shows us his perfect love.  I wrote at the bottom of that page in the journal,

"Trust in God is not conditional.  He doesn't say, 'Trust me when things are going well.  Trust me if you have everything you think you need.  Trust me when life is easy.'  No.  Trust is based on faith, and faith trusts always.  God says, 'Trust Me.'  Period."

Jon Acuff wrote on his blog today,

"Since the dawn of time, the enemy has tried to play just one trick.

Though it has a thousand different variations and a million different manifestations, it boils down to the same lie every time.

God is not good.

He's holding out on you.

There is something more you are missing.

Time and again, this is the trick the enemy comes back to."

I commented on the post,

"So true. God always blesses us. Not in the ways we THINK we need blessing. Not usually in the ways we expect. But he gives us what HE knows we need.
I'd add one thing. God never guaranteed that following him would be easy. We ARE called to give up ourselves when we follow him. The disciples gave up everything in order to be Jesus' disciples.
But they never went without food. They never went without shelter. They always had clothes. They always had what they NEEDED. But life wasn't easy. 

I've been realizing lately that the best gifts God gives aren't ones with monetary value. They're things like family. Friendship. Being hugged and kissed by one's spouse. A sweet summer breeze. Love. And most importantly, God's forgiveness, love, and grace. When a person has all that...what more do they really need?"

My mother-in-law posted a verse of a beloved hymn on my facebook wall this morning:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus;
look full in his wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of his glory and grace."


When life is frustrating and confusing...when circumstances are out of our control...when things seem hopeless and there is no end in sight...

We can trust God.
Because he is always good and he always has our bests interests in mind.
And in the meantime...
we can focus on what he's already given us.
Because it's SO much.
We already have everything we need.
And when we focus on Christ,
the things of this world seem less important.
Because they are less important.

When we have Christ, and his love, forgiveness, mercy and grace... (and we do)...
we have all we need.

 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."  -1 Peter 1:3-5

My Sickness...HIS Suffering

So I've been down with a rather nasty case of influenza since Monday.  I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. Today is my second day home from school, and this is the girl who NEVER skips classes.  Today Hubby isn't feeling well either, so at least I don't have to stay home alone all day!

Since it's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, I've been pondering the connections my physical illness has to my spiritual one.  This sickness is a result of the fact that spiritually I'm sick with sin.  Before I was baptized and given faith by the Holy Spirit, I was literally DEAD in my sin.  Now sin does not have control over me like it once did--I'm not going to die permanently from its presence in my life--but it still rears its ugly head on a regular basis and causes much frustration, pain, and suffering in my life.

Then it hit me: I don't REALLY suffer all that much for the sins I've committed.  Yes, I have to deal with the consequences.  Sometimes they're very serious ones that affect my life and the lives of those around me.  Sometimes they cause feelings of guilt that I have to deal with until I realize, once again, God's amazing forgiveness.

But here's the thing: compared to how Jesus suffered on the cross, my sufferings are pretty minimal.  First of all, having the flu is nothing compared to being beaten nearly to death, being nailed to a cross, and then hanging there for six hours until He finally died.  The worst of it?  Jesus was literally, completely separated from God.  Because He took the sin of the whole world on Him, God couldn't bear to be in his presence, because of God's complete perfection.

Jesus took the physical sufferings  and the separation from God that I deserve--on HIMSELF.


Yes, I am sick with sin.  But MY sin caused HIM to die.

The incredible thing is, the story doesn't end there.  Yes, He suffered.  Yes, He died.  But Jesus is not only Man--He is GOD.  And as God, He didn't stay dead.  After conquering Satan, sin, and death completely, Jesus rose from the dead.  And He is still alive.  And He has promised that I and everyone who believes in Him will not die forever.  We will not have to endure eternal separation from God--or even get a taste of it like Jesus did.

And the physical suffering that we endure now, in this life?  Those won't last forever.  Compared to what a lot of people experience, this sickness I have is so short, so mild, so temporary.  But even the worst illness will be healed completely in time.  And in heaven, there will be no more sickness, no more pain, no more suffering.  The perfect bodies we will have there will last for eternity, because we will be with God.

All because of what Jesus did for us.

http://www.thesefiveofmineplustwo.net/search/label/A%20Handful%20of%20Heart

A Work in Progress

This, I'm ashamed to say, is what my kitchen looked like yesterday morning.

The remains of breakfast (and other dishes) on the table...

A sink filled to overflowing...

Dirty dishes and pans all over the counter and stove.

Facing that was a bit daunting.  It was a big mess in my little kitchen.  But I got started and soon it didn't seem so bad.  Doing dishes isn't really fun, of course, unless you're one of those rare people who thinks so.  The end results are great: a clean kitchen and clean dishes.  But sometimes to get there it takes work, elbow grease...

and smelly Bar Keeper's Friend.  I don't know what I'd do without it, but the smell is nasty.

But getting a pot sparkling clean isn't always pleasant.  Getting rid of yuck usually isn't fun.

I realize I'm being a bit cryptic here.  What does a messy kitchen have to do with anything (other than reminding you that I can sometimes be lazy and messy)?

Well, as I was working, I realized how much I'm like that dirty kitchen sometimes.  I let yucky stuff pile up in my life till it's absolutely overwhelming.  It's such a daunting task I just let it be, ignore it, hope it'll go away on its own--but it doesn't.

That's when I realize how much I need God.  I can't clean up my life on my own.  I can't obey him of my own will.  My own will is selfish and sinful and doesn't want to do what's right.  That results in a messy kitchen and a messed-up life.

God has to come into my life and say, "All right, you have a big mess here, but it's nothing I can't handle.  No mess is too big for My hands.  It's not going to be fun.  It might hurt.  It might be nasty.  It might take a while. And you might not enjoy the process.  But trust Me--it'll be worth it."

God does it right.  He doesn't just do a quick wipe-down of my life, making it look clean, and call it done.  He knows the real problem isn't outward appearances, but what's on the inside.  Outwardly, this bowl looks clean.

On the inside, it's a sticky, smelly, grody mess.  It needs serious work.

In the book of 1 Samuel, God gave the prophet Samuel the job of finding the man God had chosen to be king of Israel.  Samuel went to the house of Jesse and looked at all of Jesse's sons.  Samuel thought they all looked big, strong, and ready to be king.  But God wanted David, the youngest and smallest son.  God told Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

God, in his mercy, doesn't just clean me up on the outside.  He tackles the problem of my sin at its very root: my heart.  In Psalm 51, David cried out to God after David had committed the sin of adultery with Bathsheba.  David prayed, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me" (Psalm 51:10-12).

When we realize our sin and cry out to God in repentance, this is exactly what he does.  He makes us right with him and gives us a fresh start.

Unfortunately, as humans we continue to sin, every day.  My kitchen didn't stay clean for long.  In just a few hours, I did more cooking and it got messy again.  But God is patient.  He doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves.  He knows we can't clean up our lives on our own.  A dirty dish has no power of its own, it can't want to be clean, let alone clean itself.  By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we have a desire to obey God, to love him, and to serve him.  He gives us the strength to obey him, and he forgives us when we fail.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:8-10).

I am a constant work in progress.  God my Creator knows that.  He's willing to keep working on me.

(Oh, and by the way, my kitchen did get clean!)

Linking up, one year later, 7/27/2012

Noel's Beautiful Life

God's Lessons for Me Lately

I always need to be taught something.  I might not always know what, but God does!

The last few weeks, one of the biggest lessons has been patience.  Things don't always go the way I want them to, or as quickly as I want them to.  Delays happen.  It's incredibly frustrating.  I've been impatient to the point of angry tears a few times recently.  But our times are not His, our ways are not His, our thoughts are not His.  God.  Knows.  Best.  HIS timing is perfect--not mine.  I just have to go along with His plans and wait and see the wonderful things He has in store for me.  Sometimes that's really hard.  But I know God works everything out for good (Romans 8:28)!!

The other thing God has been teaching me is that HE knows best, not me.  I want things to go my way because I think my way is the best way!  I think that if everything would go according to my plans, it would all work out great.  But that's because I'm forgetting that God is God and I am not.  That I am extremely short-sighted when it comes to the future.  That God is all-knowing (omniscient), all-powerful (omnipotent) and everywhere all the time (omnipresent).  And I am none of those things.  :)  Not to mention He is all loving and all good.  And He loves me more than I can fathom.  He has a plan for me, a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).  He knows what I need to learn in life, and He knows how to work out my circumstances so I learn them.

Almost every time I've been in the car lately, I hear the same song.  I'd get tired of it if not for the fact that God has used it to speak to me in every moment that I've heard it.  I always need it.  And it's been getting stuck in my head, which is good too!!  The song is "Blessings" by Laura Story.  Here is an excerpt of the lyrics:

We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)
Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

(Chorus)

Pondering the letter of Jude

This is one little Epistle that I think often gets overlooked.  I was reading the introductory material because I don't know much about the letter.  Apparently it was disputed as to whether or not it was really God-inspired for two reasons: Jude echoes much of what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 2, and twice he quotes Apocryphal literature, which Lutherans don't believe was God-inspired (I can't say for other denominations).  Anyway, it was finally accepted into the Biblical canon and does have a lot of good to say.  Most of the 25-verse book warns about false teachers and compares them with evil people from Old Testament times.  But toward the end Jude encourages his readers,

"But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.  Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them, to others show mercy, mixed with fear" (20-23).

It is God who will build us up and keep us and have mercy on us as we look forward to when Christ comes again.  The last sentence describes what we should be doing until then: be merciful to those who doubt (have been influenced by false teachers, those who would try to sway them from their faith); snatch others from the fire (rescue them from being destroyed by Satan, who would try to take away their faith); to others show mercy, mixed with fear (be kind and merciful to those who are not of the faith, but be wary around them in order to not be influenced by them).

Finally, in concluding the book, Jude turns his focus completely to God, who after all is still in control despite the work of Satan and false teachers and those who preach lies.  Jude writes,

"To him who is able
to keep you from falling
and to present you before his glorious presence
without fault and with great joy--
to the only God our Savior
be glory, majesty, power and authority,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
before all ages, now and forevermore!
Amen."

(I divided up the lines myself; this feels like it could be a psalm so I made it look like one.  Didn't change the text at all!)

God keeps us from falling, from stumbling in our faith.  God will present us, without fault and with great joy, before his own glorious presence!  This verse is such a comfort to me.  It's all Gospel; it takes the work and the burden completely off us and puts it all on God.  It's not about what we do!  It's about HIM, and him alone!  Not only will God keep us strong in our faith in him until the last day, but he will prepare us to stand before him, without fault.  I take that to be a reference to how he has taken all of our sins away and no longer counts them against us.  When we stand before his judgment seat on that last day, he will look at us and see not our sinful selves but the perfect righteousness of his Son who died to wash away our sin.

To that great God be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!

Amen.

Wow, three posts in one day!

My first post of today was very "me-centered."  I'm going to leave it as an example of what I DON'T want to do with my posts.

It's not about me.  Life isn't.  It's about the One who created me, who loves me, and who holds my life in his hands.

I was talking with my friend Sara yesterday about how mind-boggling it is, what Christ has done for us.  God came down to earth to live as a human, with all the pain and frustrations and inconveniences that that entails.  He was treated poorly, and at the end of his earthly life was mocked, beaten, whipped, spit upon, jeered at, and finally nailed to a rough cross of wood.

To the Jews who witnessed that, it was the most humiliating death a person could experience: the death of a criminal.  If only they had known that He was there because He had chosen to be.  That He had chosen to experience hell, quite literally, in order that mankind wouldn't have to.  That those who believed in Him and what He had done and that He had done it for them, without any help from them, that they might live.  Eternally.  With the One who loved them so much.

Not only that, but Sara and I talked about how much we still sin against God, despite what He's done for us.  And then, most mind-blowing of all, how He DAILY forgives us from all those sins!  What Jesus suffered on the cross was one payment for all sins of all people of all time.  He already took care of it ALL!  And He forgives every sin of every day.  No matter how many there are.

THAT is grace.  THAT is love.
Well, that's God.

Sometimes someone else has already put my feelings into words.

Psalm 103:8-13:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or relay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.

Once again I have experienced God's incredible love, mercy, and most of all his forgiveness.
Every day, every hour, every minute he gives me a fresh start, another chance to live my life to his glory.

And as Rebecca St. James sings in the song above, "My child, let me remind you, it is I who'll lead and guide you as you go."  God doesn't force us to get it right on our own.  HE gives us the strength and willpower to obey him!!