A Mighty Warrior

 

Continuing a Series on Living by Faith
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Judges 6:1-16; Hebrews 11:32

 [Hebrews 11 is a recounting of the Heroes of the Faith. Even though they never saw what they had been promised, each person is commended for living “by faith”. At the end of these commendations, Hebrews 12 tells us, “Therefore, because you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses… throw off sin; run with perseverance; fix your eyes on Jesus”. In other words, live “by faith”.]

  

In the comic strip Peanuts, there is a famous sequence where Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. 

She promises to not pull it back at the last minute. But invariably, she does exactly that. As a result, Charlie Brown completely misses the ball, falling flat on the ground. This comic strip story is repeated over and over again with the same results every time.

 

Life is like that sometimes isn’t it? You and I are Charlie Brown and Lucy is “life”. She represents all the negative things of the year 2020; the virus, the economic upheaval, the social, racial and political unrest.

 

She also represents life outside of 2020 with its unexpected disappointments, losses, pain and broken relationships. The uncertainty of life. And just when we think we can trust the Lord, I mean Lucy, she pulls the football out and we fail again; we cause pain to ourselves and to others; we lose hope.

 

I wonder if the Jews might have felt that same way about the Lord in regards to the Midianites. Year after year, for seven years, the Midianites invaded the Jews in Canaan. Always with the same results. Where was the Lord? Why was He letting this happen to His chosen people?

 

The Jews remembered that the Lord had brought them out of slavery in Egypt with mighty miracles. He had brought them into the Promised Land. And yet, here they were hiding in caves, and in Gideon’s case, a winepress.

 

So what did they do? They cried out to the Lord to save them. But instead of taking military action, the Lord sent a prophet who reminded them of all that the Lord had done in the past, and that they were in this situation because of their own actions; their own sin.

 

Thankfully, the Lord didn’t stop there. He never does. He sent an angel to speak into the life of Gideon. Even though Gideon doesn’t appear to be someone capable of leading the Jews to fight against the marauding Midianites, a violent group of nomads, the Lord speaks into Gideon’s heart by calling him a Mighty Warrior, and promises him this.

 

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” ¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” NLT

 

Gideon is one of my favorite characters in the Bible because he is so relatable. His faith is weak; he’s not a risk taker or a courageous leader. He’s very polite on the outside, but faithless on the inside. He doesn’t stand up to the Midianites like David did to Goliath, and yet in Hebrews, he is considered a Hero of the Faith.

 

So what does Charlie Brown do, what should we do, when life happens? Get back up and try again! But after seven years, or a lifetime, it gets more and more difficult to keep getting back up. However, we must keep trying; keep trusting in the Lord; and remember that the promises given to Gideon are true for you and me.

 

“You are a “Mighty Warrior”, and the Lord will be with you.”