Sermon # 21 - When God Is With Us Series

God was with Gideon

The word of assurance that came from the Lord to Gideon as recorded in Judges 6:16, “The LORD replied, "I will be with you. You will defeat Midian as if it were only one man." (GW)

Gideon was faced with an enormous task to fight against the Midianites. As the people of Israel along with Gideon faced oppression, humiliation and turmoil at the hands of the Midianites, the Lord’s promise to Gideon was ‘I will be with you.’ The Midianites were a vast army who like locusts swarmed in, destroyed, and plundered all that the people of Israel had, leaving them no sustenance whatsoever. The Lord told Gideon not to worry about the great army of Midian that confronted him, for the Lord was able to deal with them. The Lord told Gideon that with His help, he would be able to defeat the numerous Midianites as though they were just one man.

Gideon’s life is a reminder that the Lord is fully aware of the problems that confront us. He also perceives our fears, confusions, and anxious thoughts that no one else can. Some of us may have encountered situations where we were saving up with a particular objective in mind, when something untoward happened that deprived us of all that we had saved. The same can be true of our spiritual walk with the Lord, wherein we once longed to do great things for the Lord, but when affronted by trials, we gave up our aspirations, and settled for the mundane. The Lord reassures us, that when He is with us, every gigantic problem that challenges us, He will eliminate with ease. Therefore, instead of focusing on our problems, let’s recognize the presence of the Lord with us in all adverse situations.

In the Garden of Eden before the fall, Adam and Eve were enjoying the presence of God, as this was God’s intent when He created man. The theme of the restoration of God’s presence runs through the Bible, from Genesis right through to the book of Revelation, where we read about redeemed mankind living forever in the presence of the God. As those living in those in between times, we too can experience the presence of God in our everyday lives. That is why Jesus reassured us that the Kingdom of God is close a hand, implying that we can experience His presence right here, and now. Let’s study the lives of some of the Old Testament patriarchs to understand how the Lord was with them, and learn from their experiences.

God was with Isaac

In Genesis 26:3, we read, “Live here, and I will be with you and bless you. I am going to give all this territory to you and to your descendants. I will keep the promise I made to your father Abraham.” (GNB)

The land in which Isaac resided, was struck with famine. The first thought on Isaac’s mind was to leave the land, and to move to Egypt for food. Isaac picked this up from his father Abraham. When Abraham encountered a similar predicament earlier, he too left the land he was living in and moved to Egypt. In that moment of desperation, Isaac too decided that it would be best to leave the land of his father, and move to Egypt, so that he would have food for himself, and his family.

However, God admonished Isaac to continue in the land of famine, and He promised him that He would be with him. God said that He would bless him, and take care of all his needs. According to the Word of God, in that very place of famine, Isaac planted seed, and the Lord blessed it causing it to grow and flourish. The needs of Isaac and his family were met miraculously.

Often as parents we must be aware that our children are keenly observing the way we handle difficulties, be it sickness, debt, failure, grief or whatever challenges we encounter. When faced with such hardships in their own lives, our children will handle these situations the exact same way they saw us deal with them. Whatever be the demands that come up against us, the first thing we must decide to do is to take them to the Lord in prayer, seeking His help and intervention. It is our responsibility as Christian parents to share with our children the testimonies of God’s wonderful dealings in our lives from the past and present, so that when they run into similar situations, they too will learn to depend on the Lord for deliverance.

The God who called us is faithful and He will surely see us through. There are those who think that a change of place will change their circumstances, but the Lord’s counsel is that we stay where He has placed us, for in that very place where we were disgraced, and humiliated the Lord will bestow honor on us. In every area of our lives, if the Lord is with us, we will never be put to shame, as we have a mighty God on our side. We live in perilous times where there is a great deal of unpredictable dangers lurking all around us, but God’s promise to us in Psalm 91:7 is that if the Lord is with us, “Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.” (NLT)