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“If the LORD is with me, why is this
happening…? Ever have this question blip
across your mental radar screen? If we are honest with ourselves, we all have
probably asked this more times than we would like to admit. There is a
perception that there is a huge disconnect between a circumstance of life and
the Lord being with us. For instance, if God is with us how could He allow a natural disaster to kill tens of thousands of people? A
loved one is dying of cancer and suffering terribly, and the preacher tries to
comfort the family by saying God loves you and is with you in the midst of this
crisis; you question within your heart, “How could he say God is with the one
I love who is suffering so?” "If life is a bowl of cherries, and God is with me, what am I doing in the pits?"
The LORD is fully aware that the devil
will take advantage of "a world turned upside down" situation by whispering in the ear, “He doesn’t love or care about you, or
He would have done something about it.” God allows the tempter to do his thing
within the guidelines of Providence, but God is looking for faith and trust in
Him from His children in the circumstances of life regardless of the
disinformational approach by Satan or feelings.
Teaching about contentment is always
good for the other guy until it applies to us! Consider Paul for a moment. If
ever there was a man who lived in obedience to his calling, Paul was that man.
But he came to realize through the challenges in his life that every person,
place, or thing that entered his life was ordered by the Lord which is why he
could say, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Php 4:11b).
“Content”
is the same word translated “sufficiency” in 2 Cor 9:8. He could be content in the
extremes (poverty - abundance) and everything in between through Christ, the true source and secret of his sufficiency
(Php 4:13). Paul was satisfied regardless of the trying circumstances of his
life. The verb “learned” suggests that contentment is not an automatic given in
the Christian walk (cf. Heb 5:8). It’s a matter of perspective that must be
learned through spiritual growth by the teaching of the Holy Spirit and the
hand of Providence in alignment with the teaching of the Scriptures.
There was a man in the Old Testament
that had asked the question, “If the LORD is with me, why is this happening? When
the judges ruled Israel, idolatry was a revolving door. The Israelis could
never seem to completely shut the door on idol worship and practice. Every time
the people fell into idolatry God would send an oppressor for their spiritual infidelity.
Eventually, the pressure from the oppression caused the people to bend the knee
and cry out to God for deliverance. God would send a deliverer to end the
oppression. A period of rest would ensue then the people would fall right back
into the very thing that got them into trouble with the LORD. This cycle
continued for over three centuries.
With the breaking of the yoke of the
Philistines, Israel experienced a forty year rest from invaders under the judgeship
of Deborah. The Israelis once again opened the door that lead to idol worship and
practice (Jdg 6:1). For the next seven years the Midianites and the Amalekites
swarmed into the land from the east like a cloud of locusts prevailing,
plundering, ravaging, killing, and devouring the goods and fruit of the land
(Jdg 6:3-6a).The Jews sought refuge in the mountains (Jdg 6:2).
Idolatry was so
interwoven in the fabric of their culture that it took seven years of human atrocities
from these blood thirsty looters from the east before the Israelis would cry
out for help from the LORD (Jdg 6:6b); perhaps they had been waiting for their
god Baal to bring deliverance, but deaf, dumb, and dead idols have a poor
track record in that department which may explain why it took seven years for the Israelis to
come to their senses. God sends, therefore, a prophet to address not the invader issue but
their rebellion against the LORD for idolatry (Jdg 6:7-10); repentance always precedes
salvation. Now we come to the man who probably was clueless that he would be
Israel’s next deliverer (Jdg 6:15), Gideon (he that
cuts down).
Gideon was in the winepress not for
making wine but threshing wheat to keep evil men from finding out. Guess who
stopped by? The Angel of the LORD,
“The LORD is with you [emphasis mine], you mighty man of valor” (Jdg 6:12)!
Interesting play on words here when
the Angel of the LORD referred to Gideon as a “mighty man of valor,” yet, he
was hiding in a winepress threshing wheat. He probably opposed roving bands of
marauders from time to time in the past. I do not think the Angel of the LORD
was mocking Gideon at such a time as this, but in God’s mind he truly was a man
of valor now and for the future of Israel.
If there was an element of comic
relief, it was probably what might have gone through Gideon’s mind the moment
he heard that salutation. “Here I am in a winepress, of all places, threshing wheat to keep evil men
from stealing it, and you say the LORD is with
me?! I dread to see the day He is not with us then! This is not how I envisioned
living my life like this!” Then his thoughts jumped out without realizing this
was the Angel of the LORD (Jdg 6:22-23),
Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why
then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which
our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?'
But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the
Midianites." Jdg 6:13
His response to the
Angel of the LORD reveals a weak theological perspective of the situation. He
dreaded any face time with God as any Jew (Jdg 6:22-23), but didn’t draw the connection
of the sin of idolatry and chastisement from the LORD! God chastisement lends
proof of His presence with and care for the nation of Israel; this is true
today for the body of Christ (cf. Heb 12:3-11).
God had already
warned His people against the sin of idolatry as suggested in the announcement
in Jdg 6:8-10. Obviously, Gideon wasn’t there when the unnamed prophet came on
the scene, but the truth of it was already contained in the Law of Moses (Ex
20:2-5), but bear in mind this was a period where everyman was doing what was
right in his own eyes (Jdg 21:25). People wanted their sin as well as the blessings
from God without obedience to the Law of Moses. The proverbial, “I want my cake
and eat it, too,” is apropos here.
So, let’s return to
what we know from the Scripture. Circumstances in no way shape or form determine
if God is with us or not. Such an ill-conceived notion comes from not looking at the situation through God's eyes or the Scripture. The situation can
stink to high heaven, but God is right there with us in the stink or the clear
blue. Goodness, we can create so much craziness for ourselves by straying from the
Word. The law of the harvest pertains to all, lost or saved; a man or woman
reaps what is sown, like idolatry or anything that competes for
the will of God in our life. Even so, God is with us (Heb 13:5).
From God’s point of
view, regardless of the circumstances whether they be blessings or burdens, God’s
presence is never at stake; we make it an issue instead of abandoning any sin
that is causing a rift in fellowship with God. The LORD is with us all
the way to the end. He will never leave us nor forsake us! The only disconnect between God being with us and the situations of life is solely based either on buying into the devil's lies or those elusive mercurial feelings and not the solid truth of Scripture.
The
next time doubt pops up on the radar, “You’re with me!?" Know for a certainty that Yahweh will never leave you before,
during, or after the question! It’s simply a faith perspective that needs to be
nurtured and learned, making all the difference in the situation, good or not
so good. “You’re with me?” or “You’re with me.” This is simply how we choose to punctuate
our walk of faith in the circumstances of life, in doubt or declaration. For those who find their sufficiency in Christ, they already got the punctuation mark down, like Paul. <><
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