- Wondering if God sees what's going on and if He really cares
- Trying to remain faithful but growing discouraged and weary in the circumstances
- Feeling unseen and unheard in my cries to Him
- Asking "How long, O Lord?"
"The word from God was direct and clear, but in spite of that, Gideon was still skeptical: "Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan's the weakest in Manasseh, and I'm the runt of the litter." (6:15)
Gideon's response wasn't much different from our own in such circumstances. After seven long years of suffering, Gideon's focus was on himself, not on God; on his own weakness rather than on God's strength.
Then the Lord said, "I'll be with you. Believe me, you'll defeat Midian as one man." (6:16)
There was to be no more introspection over Israel's past failures and no speculation about her future fate. The focus was on God's presence in Gideon's life. And the initiative was in God's hands, as it had been back in Egypt, as it would one day be on Easter.
Gideon only had to trust the promise and obey the command. And that's all God asks us to do: trust and obey." Eugene Peterson, Conversations, pg. 355A valuable reminder for me today as I feel discouraged by circumstances, especially related to the adoption. The waiting has felt very, very hard this week. It's now been a year since we started the process, more than six months since our dossier arrived in Rwanda, and there's no discernible end in sight. That's way too long for this Mommy aching to hold her baby.
Even so, there is to be no more introspection over all the decisions we've made and steps we've taken and no speculation about when and how things will happen in the future. My focus is to be on God's presence in my life. This entire process is in God's hands; we know He's called us to adopt from Rwanda, and the rest is completely out of our control. My only responsibility is to trust the promises of God and obey His command.
Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Proverbs 3:5-6
2 comments:
O Mighty Warrior Cici, you are waiting on God, not on any man, and you know it way down deep. You so honor Him as you hold fast to Gen 16:13 The-God-Who-Sees-Me. I love that God called out Gideon in Judges 6:12 "God is with you O Mighty Warrior" in all his fear hiding in the dark & failure fixing on his circumstances. Col 1:29 either I go in the Energy of my Christ or my own energy. May God's strength be powerful in you, Cici. Can I ask any of you a favor? I need people to go to my blog, The Fray: http://beverly-brandon.blogspot.com & leave a one-sentence comment on my current post where I'm trying to network to learn to speak and write better. If you have a second today, I'd so appreciate it. Thanks!
I enjoyed the story of Gideon today too :) At first, I was just reluctant to read today, my heart wasn't in it. Or so I think. I feel like a lot of my friends around me are discouraged in their walk with Christ and I'm trying to stand firm. But as I chose to open and read about Gideon anyways, I remembered just as you shared, Cici, that I'm thinking of myself and my own weaknesses like Gideon. Instead of on God's strength. I do not need to be scared of anything because God is fighting for me. I don't need to be scared of my enemy, scared of other people, or even question God.
I just need to move forward in faith, trust, obey and enjoy Him. Love my Lord. His presence, His power, His strength, His character and most of all His love, is FOR us. In all circumstances. Praying for this today. To trust and obey, and follow... p.s. it took me awhile but I just got my own kindle copy of 66LL, I'm super excited :) I feel like I've def. been missing out, but I can't wait to get reading!!!!! so glad God brought me here with you ladies! thank you for being here.
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