EMPOWERED FOR GREATNESS –PART II

Little did Gideon realize that God had empowered him for greatness. He was troubled about the oppression of the Midianites, and God raised him up to deliver His people. God sent him to war with 300 soldiers instead of the 3,000 soldiers he had prepared earlier on, and God gave them a resounding victory. The God who empowered Gideon for greatness at that time is still the same today and for ever. He is still in the business of empowering His children to do exploits for Him

Hard work, determination and total dependence on God can change anybody’s destiny in life. No one is born poor, neither is any born great. Everybody (old and young) is complaining about the situation of things in our land. The challenge to all of us who are reading this article is this: Let it be a commitment on your part to improve our beloved nation and move on to greater heights in the committee of nations, by preparing ourselves with the fear of God in our hearts, and be determined to love this nation. Let us be patriots! A lot of people do not love this nation. We want to “check out of the country.” Remember, other people built up their own countries with, hard work, honesty, integrity and love for the good of their fatherland. Let us wake up to our responsibilities! And the Lord will help us. Amen!

As a country we have produced thousands of professionals, be they medical doctors, civil and mechanical engineers, teachers, architects, lawyers, and what have you, yet whenever we need the services of these professionals we will suddenly find out that a number of them can not solve our problems. We can not trust most of our medical experts, so the rich and powerful people run to Asia, Europe and other countries for medical care. Is this not an anomaly? We even spend so much money as a nation to bring in expatriate engineers to build our roads, in fact sometimes to build our corporate buildings. What exactly is the problem?

Just as God had empowered Gideon to be great but he knew it not until God pushed him out of his shell, I believe that God has empowered every one of us towards greatness. But we have to change our mind-set, work hard and make up our minds to become great indeed. God needs us to bring about solutions to the religious, economic and political systems of this nation. Everybody must look inwards, have sober reflections and then declare to himself or herself that, “other people have excelled in life, I will not be an exception.” So I say unto you my readers, Work hard, have godly fear and strive for Excellence, I repeat, Strive for Excellence. 

EMPOWERED BY GOD FOR GREATNESS –PART I

Background Story:

The man Gideon is our text case. I will start with a background story as found in the book of Judges Chapter 6: 1- 14.The Israelites as we read in the Bible were special people unto God. He loved them so much and He would always fight for them against their enemies. But whenever they turned their backs against God, He in turn would use their enemies to punish them so as to win back their attention. Let us back up a little bit and read from Judges Chapter Four, verse 1, “After Ehud died, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the LORD sold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor…”  Jabin’s commander at that time was Sisera. After 20 solid years of oppression by these people, the Israelites cried to the LORD for help. That period Deborah, the prophetess was in charge as a leader in Israel. She sent for Barak and told him what God said. Barak was to lead the people to war against Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army. What was Barak’s reply? He told Deborah that if she was not following him to the battle field he, Barak, would not go. He recognized that God was with Deborah. Well, they went to fight the war and God gave Sisera into their hands. He was killed by a woman named Jael. The Israelites were full of jubilations after the victory (chapter 5), and in verse 31 we read that the land of Israel had peace for 40 years.

              By the time we get to chapter 6 of the book of Judges, what do we have to say about the Israelites? The bible states in verse 1, “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.” These people were so oppressive. The Midianites, the Amalekites and other Eastern people invaded the land of Israel and destroyed their farm lands. (6 v.4). By the time we get to verse 6 we see again that the Israelites cried unto the LORD for help. Psalm 121: 1 “I will lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” The Israelites acknowledged the fact that only God can help in times of crisis. As usual, God sent a prophet to them to remind them that He is their God, and that they should not worship the gods of the Amorites but they refused to listen to His warning. It was in the midst of this crisis that an angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, son of Joash, under the oak of Ophrah, and he said to Gideon,

The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (v.12). That was strange to Gideon hence he said to the angel. “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.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours , and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

THE "JOY" OF SERVING GOD

The journey through the trials of life is not a pleasant one at all. If care is not taken, it can destroy a person’s life and even ministry. But it is interesting to note that the end result of trial can be glorious when one endures it patiently. (Rom.5:3-4)The same goes for the paradox in this thesis - the pain of serving Him becoming a thing of Joy. How can this be?

 Moses was a beloved servant of God, a man who spoke to God face-to-face. The Bible speaks of him as the meekest of all men. He was a man who led the Israelites for forty good years in the wilderness. Whenever he was faced with crisis, he cried unto the sender of the ‘great exodus’ – God, Himself. He walked with God long enough to understand His ways. But one wonders, “Why did he disregard His command at some point?” He was angry at the Israelites one might say, and he referred to them as “you rebellious people.” Did God hold him guiltless? Not at all. Though he pleaded for mercy he was not spared by God. (Deut.3: 23-27)

Servant of God, did you notice that as long as Moses was living in obedience to God’s command, God honored him in the presence of the Israelites because he honored God? But on that unfortunate occasion when he lost control of his temper, little did he realize what the consequence would be. Abraham laughed at God’s promise (Gen.17:17), Sarah also laughed, and she even told a lie (Gen.18:12,15); the virgin Mary asked the angel,“How shall this be…(Lk.1:31-34). And Zacharias, a priest, also asked a question, “Whereby shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. (Lk.1:13-18).

 Moses was denied the joy of entering the long awaited for Promised Land. Is that not painful? Zacharias was pronounced mute for a season. What was the punishment meted out to Sarah and Mary? I hasten to add, God’s servants sometimes experience ‘pains’ in serving the Master. What God overlooks while dealing with others, He will hold you highly responsible for same. As ministers of God we need to remind ourselves always of this maxim, “Others may but I cannot.” To remain victorious in God’s service, obedience to His commands cannot be compromised. As long as we keep honoring the Lord in our daily walk with Him, we can be assured of the JOY of serving Him.

HALLELUYAH!