'If the Lord Is With Us, WHY????'

I love the unrefined 'rawness' of the Bible.  It shows people as they really were and how they responded in the moment.  Gideon is one of my favourite bible characters.  Here's a guy with no expectation, no hope for the future and no desire to do anything more than find a way to care for his family.  In the midst of a midnight threshing session, an angels appears and delivers a startling and contextually (at least for anyone on this planet) absurd message. 

God is with you!  You are a mighty warrior.  He will use you to deliver your people from their oppressors.  The message is grandiose, large and in the natural, COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE. Gideon has no track record of greatness, no leadership record, no military experience and no desire or interest in being a deliverer.  God is looking for a deliverer.  Gideon just wants to feed his family.  It doesn't look like a good fit.  All indicators point to a disaster in the making. 

Gideon's first response is telling.  'If the Lord is with us why are all these things happening to us?'  Gideon went on to ask about miracles, signs, wonders and moments of divine intervention all through the history of his people.  From the outside looking in, it appeared that God had forgotten Gideon and his people.  Nothing big had happened for a long time, but God was doing more than Gideon thought He was.

Gideon isn't alone in thinking small about what God is or isn't doing.  Many of us fall prey to thinking that God isn't doing much because we don't see it happening on the surface.  We look at our relationships, finances, health issues, churches, communities, etc, etc and we are sometimes baited into believing that God isn't at work and that He isn't interested in working on our behalf.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Both are lies designed to convince you that you no longer matter in God's grand plan. In spite of what you may see or not see as you look around you, God has not stopped working and he certainly hasn't given up on you!

Here's what I've learned to be true again, just over the last few weeks: God is ALWAYS doing more than we think He is.  In this month alone, on both a personal and ministry level, I have been astounded by what He has been doing behind the scenes when it appeared that nothing was happening in places where I really wanted it to.  In this week alone, I have been astounded at how busy God has been behind the scenes in the lives of MLA's in ways that were completely unknown to me.  It's remarkable and exciting.  At times it's overwhelming to see just how much He is doing.  I've learned that a member has for the first time in his life, decided to read the bible.  That's always a good thing!  Another shared some deeply personal things with me and I had the opportunity to pray with him. 

I don't know what you are facing in your life today.  It may be that you've begun to believe that God has moved on to other people and other challenges and has left you alone and forgotten.  God is doing more than you think He is today.  Romans tells us that He is working out all things together for our good!  Believe it!  Expect it!  Don't settle for anything else!

God is ALWAYS doing more than you THINK He is!