No More Blame Game

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 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?” (Judges:6:12-14)

Many of us can relate to the situation that Gideon was in. He has heard his parents and everyone around him talk about the mighty miracles with which the Lord had brought them out of Egypt and yet right now, they are under the control of the Midianites. The Israelites were under a constant threat from the enemies around them. For Gideon, this seemed very contradictory to what he has been hearing about the Lord from his ancestors and I am sure the very mention of the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would have frustrated him. And at this point in time we see the Angel of the Lord appearing to him and addressing him as a "mighty warrior".

Gideon openly tells the Angel his reservations about trusting the GOD of Israel. It's funny though because the very reason that the people of Israel is under bondage then, is because they had rejected the GOD of Israel. Gideon though had heard about what the Lord had done in their lives before but seem to have missed the point about the results of not walking in His ways. Anyway, he starts to blame the Lord for the current situation they find themselves in. Sounds familiar, isn't it? Many of us do it often. For everything that is wrong on this planet the first person to get the blame is GOD!

Let's see what the Angel of the Lord had to say to Gideon after hearing him blaming the Lord for their oppression. He gives instructions to Gideon to go and fight the Midians and rescue the people of Israel. In other words, He wants Gideon to go and fix the situation. This is exactly what the Lord wants us to do today. We see a truck load of problems around us and the Lord has already equipped us to fix it, not to go on complaining and blaming Him for it. The COVID pandemic has thrown the entire world into chaos and the Lord is looking at the body of Christ to take authority and eradicate not only the virus but to reclaim what has been lost. Let's partner with the Lord and work towards restoration in each and every area that's been vandalized by the evil one. 

Blessings!

Nothing to Everything

He (Jesus) noticed two fishing boats at the water’s edge, with the fishermen nearby, rinsing their nets. Jesus climbed into the boat belonging to Simon Peter and asked him, “Let me use your boat. Push it off a short distance away from the shore so I can speak to the crowds.” (Luke:5:2&3)

Jesus, when He walked by the shores of Galilee knew exactly whose boat He is going to use. The boat that had returned empty. The boat which had failure written all over it. He also knew the power that was upon Him to transform the empty boat into a boat full of fish. For that to happen, the owner of the boat must allow Jesus to step inside the boat. We see from the above verses, Peter was more than willing to let Jesus use the boat. Are you willing to let Jesus into your emptiness, into your failures, into your weaknesses?

Peter had just returned from a frustrating night of failure and when Jesus approached Him for the boat, he could have very well denied Him the access. He had the every right to do so, because he has just endured a long night. But Peter didn't. We find ourselves in situations like these. When we had a frustrating day or when things didn't pan out as we hoped for it would. At that juncture, when there is an invitation from Jesus (it could be just a gentle whisper in our hearts to forget about the situation and trust Him) to just let Him in that situation, what do we do? Do we still remain frustrated blaming GOD for the situation or like Peter, are we willing to obey the call of Jesus and let Him in on the situation instead?

The most forgotten part in this passage is if Peter had caught something the previous night, we wouldn't be talking about this amazing miracle. That doesn't mean it was GOD's will that Peter returned back with an empty catch. Failures and lack of blessings in our lives are from the devil. But, our Father is so good and so full of love for us, that He wants to step in on the situation and turn it around for good. Just like how Jesus, used the empty boat (failures) and returned back with a catch that none in Galilee had seen before and that too during broad daylight, where fishing is rarely done. GOD can use what seems an unfavorable situation to bring blessings in our life. Trust Him, no matter what.

Blessings!