April 25
Judg 4:1-5:31 | PS 94:1-23 | Prov 14:3-4 | Luke 22:35-53
"Here am I! Send me." (Isaiah 6:8). God gives us a mission, a vision, instruction. How often we give the opposite reply as Isaiah, and say "Pick him! Choose someone else, anyone else." But He chose you. Consider our Lord's words as He was about to offer His life for us in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:42, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” He knew the agony that He would face and the separation that He would endure as His Father poured out His wrath against all of the sins of humanity upon His Son. Jesus could have hidden, but He went to the same public place where they knew He would be, because He could not pay the price for our sins by hiding. Nor can we, who have been given a commission from the Lord, remain cloistered in safety. If we question how God can use us, considering how inept we are, He will respond to our willingness with His power to move us for His good in this world we find ourselves living in.
Once again the Israelites found themselves oppressed. The commander of the Canaanite army had 900 chariots of iron, which were like modern day tanks. Barak was given the charge through the prophetess and judge Deborah to amass troops and attack this Canaanite commander. He fearfully assented only once Deborah said she would go along. Once assembled, Barak remained reluctant, and it was Deborah who initiated the battle as we read in Judges 4:14, "Then Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the Lord gone out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him." What Barak didn't realize was that God fought for him that day, as evidenced by the Song of Deborah in Judges 5:4-5, 20-21. God caused a torrential downfall as the battle began, which created muddy conditions, which disabled Sisera's chariots. But we shouldn't be surprised about this as we read of an earlier battle in Joshua 10:10-11, when Joshua faced off against 5 kings with their troops, "So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword."
The Lord doesn't call us so that we can fail. He calls us for His victory and His glory. Though what lies before us might seem insurmountable, our God is sovereign and can lead us through anything. This does not mean that those of us in Christ will not experience failure or frustration. Often we face trials in our strength using worldly devices. Often our trials are not for God but are for ourselves. We must remain steadfast in His Word so that we can tell when what is prompting us is from the Lord or not. But if you are called for a task, He will see it through, if you step out in obedience. Realize His will, will be done, with or without us. But what a shame it is when He has called us, and we choose to hide or refuse to go in fear or disobedience. It is always for His glory, but we lose the blessing of being able to serve Him.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: