Called but Confused

There was an angel that was waiting for Gideon in a remote place under an oak tree to tell him that he was called by God. I look at my own life and now realize that God spoke to me in more remote places than I could count. God loves to seclude us and then speak to our hearts. Gideon was a nobody in the culture that he lived in and was probably the lowest ranking family member under Joash who was his father. I think we will be shocked when we arrive in heaven and see who God called for his service. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men;and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Cor 1:25.

He was poor but was innovative as a self preservationist because he was threshing wheat by hand in the bottom of a grape press. One of the many reasons God choose Gideon for this task was because he was a shrewd man. He was a believer because in verse 12 of Judges chapter 6 the angel said the Lord is with you. God only calls his children to service. He does not call an unbeliever. He was probably one of the few that worshipped God and did not go and worship Baal while most of his countrymen and family members did. Prior to the Angel appearing to him I don't believe Gideon built an altar to God for worship because when the Angel told him to destroy the altar to Baal and the grove he did this at night for fear of his life. When God calls us to do something He does not always get detail oriented on how to do it. Gideon had to ponder this specifically on what his approach was going to be. It tells me that God understands we are not stupid. He does not have to spoon feed us. If He did we would not be stepping out in faith. God understood Gideon's heart. Gideon probably had some kind of devotion to God in his heart and mind. This is the same with us. We need a secret place to keep our devotion to God. But thou,when thou prayest,enter into thy closet,and when thou hast shut the door,pray to thy Father which seeth in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. Matt.6:6.We need to train ourselves to do this everyday because I believe we really deep down love God and besides we live in an abrasive world. I found that almost every time I do this God almost always uplifts my spirit. Maybe not right away but He always eventually comes through with His purpose.

The Angel said to Gideon" the Lord is with you.'' Gideon did not listen to the Angel . He responded "if the Lord is with us." I deal with people almost everyday of my life and if there is one thing I have found it is that people tend to hear what they want to hear. The Angel of the Lord said Gideon "the Lord is with thee" and Gideon said..."if the Lord be with us"...so Gideon was the same way most people are-we hear what we want to hear.Israel was going through sufferings.Gideon went back to Israel's past glories of God rescuing Israel from Egypt through miracles. He forgot something- Israel was at present worshipping a false God. This was a difficult time in a different set of circumstances so God had to take another kind of action. God knows precisely what to do at the exact time. The problem is in our humanity we question this because we may be going through evil. Gideon asked the number one question of all time. Why did God allow this evil in my life and the land? As Gideon listened and obeyed God and this call for his life Romans 8:28 came into play. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." That verse has been quoted by Christians so many times that it sounds like a cliché.Follow me  and my thoughts with this story.Gideon was called but confused; however God honored his steps of faith by not only giving him the victory through Him but his life began to make more sense with purpose through God. This is a miracle when that happens.

How many times in our confusion in the residue of evil that we walk in did you see Christians start to pursue those things of God and His plan for their life. I would even say that if there was not that confusion that God allows us to go through we might never have even sought God out. God knows this. He knows the way human nature is.He sends trials and sufferings for a reason and our pursuit to know Jesus Christ takes on meaning. Our circumstances our now seen in light of God's plan for our life rather than a hindrance.As God becomes bigger and bigger our circumstances become smaller. Guess who has first place in our life now-Jesus Christ.

Bob D.