If you keep up with the news, it’s difficult not to get discouraged. Every day brings stories of human suffering through war, terrorism, national disasters, and crime. In addition the world is attacking Christian faith from every angle imaginable. We live in spiritually dark times that can lead us to despair.
God is at work even in the darkest times and even with the weakest, most mixed up people God has a sovereign purpose for His glory.
The book of Judges, Gideon never would have done what he did if God had not taken the initiative. Gideon was shown as a hero, when in fact the hero of this account was God. But God chooses to work through some weak whom He teaches to trust in Him. Paul puts it best when he writes,
“We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves” – 2 Corinthians 4:7
Because God is at work even in the spiritually darkest times, we can trust Him to use us even in our weakness to accomplish His sovereign purpose.
When you look around at the depressing news, it may seem that bid had gone on vacation. But He never does. Paul says in Ephesians 1:11,
“We were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of Him who does all this after the counsel of His will.”
Through the Book of Judges, we see that Gideon lived in dark times both politically and spiritually, but God was a work. He was at work in disciplining His wayward people. He was at work to raise a prophet to confront the people with their sins. He was at work to show up in Gideon and call him to deliver His people.
No matter how dark the times, even if we can’t see how God is working, we can be sure that He is working to accomplish His sovereign purpose for His glory.
In Judges, God didn’t look for a man with renowned military skills who was already a recognized leader in his community and nation. Rather, He picked a weak man who remained somewhat weak through the entire book and one who failed. We see Gideon’s weakness in the Book of Judges, in a few ways.
Gideon was defeated and cowardly. He was threshold wheat in a wine press. Normally farmers would separate the wheat from the chaff by using oxen pulling a heavy threshing sledge over it in an exposed area where the wind would blow the chaff away. But Gideon was down in a wine press beating the wheat with a stick “in order to save it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11).
Gideon was dense spiritually. He either had not heard or not understood the message of the prophet, to attribute Israel’s profound situation to their sin. Gideon rehearsed for the angel how God had delivered Israel from Egypt through the mighty miracles. But he mistakenly concluded,
“But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian” -Judges 6:13
He was right about God giving Israel into the hands of Midian, but he was wrong in saying that God had abandoned them. God was working even in this spiritually dark time.
Gideon was depressed. We see this in his complaint that God has abandoned Israel Gideon had lost hope for any deliverance from this oppressive enemy that was literally eating Israel’s lunch.
Gideon was down on himself rather than staying focused on God. When the angel tells Gideon in Judges 6:14,
‘Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?
He was not implying that Gideon had the strength to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Rather. Gideon’s strength was to be found in the angel’s rhetorical question, “Have I not sent you?” and in the angel’s promise in Judges 6:16, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man. Gideon was focused on his own incompetence rather than on God’s power and presence.
Gideon was doubtful of God’s promises. The angel promised to be with him and that he would defeat the enemy. But Gideon needed a sign to confirm the angel’s words. God graciously complied with His weak servants request, first my incinerating Gideon’s offering and then by making Gideon’s fleece first wet and then dry. Knowing Gideon’s remaining doubts about attacking the Midianites, God graciously provided a final sign by allowing Gideon to overhear an enemy soldier telling about a dream where Gideon was victorious over the Midianite army (Judges 7:9-14). But up to that point, Gideon was marked by doubt.
When we are weak, doubt robs us of the fullness of God’d blessings in our lives. We don’t see how God can possibly be at work in a dark situation.
Whatever the world tells us, to not believe in ourselves. It’s not to build our self-esteem or to follow steps to get our success.
“If we can do nothing, self-confidence is the height of presumption. If God can do everything, despondency is the height of folly” – C.H. Mackintosh
We do not want to be unaware of our affliction when we are burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we are despaired of life. Trusting in God is the solution for weak people who want to see Him work in dark situations. We need to be in a place where when we are we are strong in the Lord.
We may be weak ourselves, but because we have the Holy Spirit within us we are strong.
We cannot trust God to use us to serve Him until we know that we are at peace with Him through trusting in the sacrifice of His Son.
Paul wrote in Romans 5:1-2,
“Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we also have our access by faith into His grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
If our faith is in Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins then we are at peace with God. Even in the darkest of times. He wants to use us in our weakness as we trust Him, to help accomplish His sovereign purpose for His glory.
Our world, our nation, and our communities may be spiritually dark but know that God is at work even if we don’t see immediate evidence of it.
When I think of the dark times in my life I realize that God was at work even when I thought He wasn’t anywhere to be found. He was there protecting me, even from myself at times.
From Pity to Praise 