Where Are God's Miracles?

Weak. Weary. And living in fear, Gideon hid in a wine press. The Midianite Army plundered Israel's sustenance. So, Gideon tried to separate wheat from chaff in an impossible place. The wine press protected His sustenance from invasion but blocked the wind that provided his sustenance.

Can you capture Gideon's predicament?

If he goes out in the open, the Midianites steal his provisions. If he stays hidden in the wine press all the unwanted, inedible, earth, muck and dirt cant be swept away. What a dilemma. What hopelessness.

In the midst of Gideon's impossibility: "The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."

OK. Stop right there. If I'm Gideon...and trust me...many days I relate with his struggles and wonder at God's promise... I question What? Might Warrior? Ha. The Lord is with me? Then why am I having to hide? Why am I thrashing around helplessly? Why is all my hard work not profiting me anything?

How about you? Ever feel that way?

Gideon did. He responds saying,  "if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian."

In essence Gideon asks, where are God's miracles? I know He provided for our fathers out of Egypt...but He's no where near us now. He's abandoned us. He' put us in the hands of our enemies.

What a painful place. That place where you feel abandoned. Where you question and wonder God, where are You? That place where you acknowledge His provision for others...but feel NO intervention or relief for yours. That place where you ask, God, are you near? Where you long to see His deliverance but feel stuck in the futility of your efforts.

Amidst all Gideon's doubt. Amidst his questions, "The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?"

God lovingly encourages Gideon. DON'T GIVE UP. I'm with you. I know you are weak. I know you don't have any more strength. But it's time to press on. It's time for your deliverance. I will empower you to overcome and conquer your enemies.

"But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." (Judges 6:11-16, NIV)

"How can I save Israel?" How can I save my marriage? How can I accomplish what You ask of me, Lord? How can I do ...x, y, z....? God provides the solution. His answer remains the same for each one of us..."I will be with you, and you will ..."

Friend, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Your impossibilities don't escape His notice. You may feel stuck in your own wine press, surrounded by enemies, feeling abandoned by the futility of your efforts...BUT GOD is near. Silence your doubts. Quiet your fears. Dismiss your feelings of fear and inferiority...GOD is able! He accomplishes the impossible. He will NEVER abandon.

God fulfilled His promise to Gideon in such a way that no man received the glory...He defeated the Midianite army with just 300 men.

Today, God will lead us. He will provide our way of escape. We simply need to follow His instructions as Gideon did, by listening, aligning, and following God's lead.