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)
God was with Jacob
In Genesis 31:3, we read, “Then the LORD said to him, "Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you." (GNB)
Jacob was with his father-in-law Laban, tending his sheep, and was constantly cheated by his father-in-law, who was a shrewd man. Laban was a strong man while Jacob was weak and vulnerable. He was trapped in this situation, unable to escape the clutches of this strong man. The Lord encouraged Jacob to go back to the land of his fathers and relatives, with the assurance that He would go with him.
Many people like Jacob are victims of unhealthy relationships, which have entwined them so strongly, that they are unable to break free from them. Some have been misguided into erroneous business partnerships, which have ambushed them, and trapped them. The Lord’s encouragement to any such person is that if they come to Him, He is able to liberate them from every entanglement. We must therefore not hesitate to break away from wrong relationships, if we recognize that they might cause unpleasant repercussions for us. If we persist in them, these relationships and friendships will cause irreparable damage in our lives. Therefore, let us choose to break off all those unwanted relationships, as the Lord has promised us His divine presence.
God was with Moses
We read in Exodus 3:12, God answered, “I will be with you, and when you bring the people out of Egypt, you will worship me on this mountain. That will be the proof that I have sent you." (GNB)
Moses was tending sheep, and having done this for forty years, he had forgotten the reason God chose him in the first place. When the Lord met him at the burning bush and commanded him to go back to Egypt, Moses gave God umpteen reasons why he couldn’t do so. Moses had become quite comfortable with his life, and God had to remind him that He had great plans and purposes that Moses had to fulfill. God told Moses that he would no longer stand before sheep, but would stand boldly before the greatest kings of those times, Pharaoh. The Lord also assured him that He would be with him, and that the people of Israel would come to worship God on the very same mountain where God met with Moses. Here was a multitude of Israelites who had forgotten to worship God, and God had to send Moses to bring them back so they could learn to worship the Lord all over again.
Many believers have forgotten the purpose for which God called them, redeemed them, cleansed them, and made them part of the church. We have not understood that God’s primary intent for bringing us into the church to be part of His family, is so we can go out, and bring others in. If the sole aspirations of our life are about ourselves, our work, our family and our finances, then we have become too complacent, and have forgotten that the purpose of our salvation. We need to go out, meet and bring in those who are lonely, sick, in bondage, all of whom need a saviour. It’s good to remind ourselves that we are in God’s family only because somebody took time to meet with us, and share with us about God’s love.
The Lord yearns to fulfill His plans and purposes through each one of us. This is applicable to every one of us irrespective of how old or how young we are. There is an example of a young girl who was a slave in Naaman’s house, and she in spite of her grim situation, was instrumental in sharing the good news that there was a prophet named Elisha, which not only resulted in Naaman being healed of leprosy, but also in him becoming a believer in the Lord. God can use anyone irrespective of our situation or our age if we are willing. We are saved and redeemed so that we can go out, and find those who don’t know the Lord, who are enslaved in all kinds of bondages, who are unable to worship the Lord, and bring them into the fellowship of the church, so they too can become true worshippers of the Lord Jesus.
God was with Joshua
In Deuteronomy 31:23, we read, “Then the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun and told him, "Be confident and determined. You will lead the people of Israel into the land that I promised them, and I will be with you." (GNB)
The Lord used Moses to do mighty miracles, and he brought the people of Israel out of slavery from the land of Egypt. At the very end of that journey, at a time of testing, instead of speaking to the rock Moses struck the rock, and thereby failed to honor the Lord. As a result Moses lost the blessed opportunity to lead the people of Israel into the promise land.
After the death of Moses, the Lord chose Joshua to lead the myriad people of Israel, but Joshua was filled with fear and trepidation. The Lord comforted, strengthened, and encouraged Joshua to be confident, because the Lord was going to be with him.
As long as we live here on earth, we too like Moses will be tested and tried. That is the reason Jesus taught his disciples to pray saying ‘lead us not into temptation’. The enemy is on the prowl looking for ways to devour us, and we must be alert and overcome when tempted. We may think that Moses made a minor mistake, but in God’s sight it was huge, as the Lord is one who searches our hearts, and can perceive the motives behind every action.
While it is true that God is full of love and grace, it is also equally important to remember the fact that He is also a God of justice. If we take the grace of God for granted, we will find ourselves continuing in our sinful habits and bondages. There are so many who believe that the New Testament is all about the grace of God, which is true indeed. But it was during the period of grace, in the early church the Lord instantly punished Ananias and Sapphira for their lack of integrity, which serves as a warning to all of us. Only if both of these attributes of God are understood correctly, will we long to live a life of holiness in thought, word and deed, and be transformed into the Lord’s image.
The Lord assures that since He is with us, we need not be fearful or anxious about our family, children, or whatever else that’s troubling us, as His presence with us can help us overcome every hurdle we face. With the Lord with us there is no room for fear, for He is more than able to meet all our needs, heal all our diseases, give us victory over every trial, and to crown us with blessings and honor.
We looked at Gideon who was in a state of humiliation, Isaac who was in a situation of inadequacy, Jacob found himself trapped in a restrictive situation, Moses was in a place where he had forgotten his very purpose, and Joshua was faced with a challenging situation, but in all of these circumstances, the Lord encouraged each one of them with this promise that, He was with them.
God is with us
In Matthew 28:20 Jesus said, … “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.”
This is Jesus’ promise to all believers that He will be with us now and forever, until the end of time. In the Old Testament, when God called people, He promised them His presence for the future, and for the specific task that He purposed to accomplish through them. However, the promise of the Lord in the New Testament to all believers, is that He would be with us every single moment of our lives till the very end. Also the presence of the Lord is not exclusive for the Pastor or leader, but for every individual person who believes in the Lord Jesus.
The Lord is with us always, ever-present, so we can go forth boldly with faith, and not let any situation get us down, no matter how tumultuous it is. We are called believers because we believe in a God whom we can’t see, and we don’t require any symbol or building to signify who we are, for the Lord promises us that ‘wherever two or three are gathered in His name, He is there in their midst.’ Our faith must be based on the word of God and the assurance that the presence of the Lord is with us all the time. We must also remind ourselves that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, and must not give room for the enemy to steal the word of God, and His promises from us.
The disciples of Jesus feared when faced with the storm, even though Jesus was with them on their boat. They almost wanted Jesus to worry about their predicament, when they woke him up, and asked Him if He didn’t care about them. The Lord had to calm the storm to assure them that He was in control, and that nothing would befall them when He was in their boat. If we have the Lord Jesus with us on this journey of life alongside us, all through life, there is nothing we need fear or worry about.
We remind ourselves from Act 11:21, “And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.” (KJV) God’s hand is not just with one man or leader, but with all believers, and when we go out in obedience to fulfill the great commission of our Lord Jesus, many will believe, and turn to the Lord.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewsfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
