Eking Out My Grain

 “Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. Judges 6:11 (ESV)

During his time at America’s Keswick, Chris Thompson preached a wonderful message on what we need to do to arm ourselves to face the giants in our lives that are keeping us from holding on to the victory that we already have in Jesus Christ. There were many altar calls to simply just do business with YHVH and when there wasn’t, Chris would display his slant on life through his quick wit, peppered with a dry sense of humor that could only come by living his life in merry ole’ England. But there was a moment where I felt like Chris had a glimpse into something in my heart that has been gnawing away at me for a few months.

He shared Judges 6 with us and there was something that he said struck a chord. He was explaining how the word “Midian” meant strife in Hebrew.  Come to find out that Midian was a son of Abraham and Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2). Anyway he describes how the Midianites are completely surrounding the nation of Israel because once again they did evil in the sight of YHVH. The nation cries out that well, gee, this ain’t fair. These Midianites keep eating everything we grow, they are moving into our neighborhoods taking up all the good ground and they’re wearing our good wool. Who do they think they are? Do something YHVH…please.

And then comes verse 11. Gideon beating out, or as Chris put it, eking out his meager little bit of grain while looking over his shoulder to see if all the strife in the world isn’t coming to take what is his. Life has become fragile at this time in Jewish history. And that’s when it got personal. Life has become fragile for me at this time in my history. Just the basic stuff in the world has become in need of repair…and the list was growing. Bills are always due or overdue. Prices for everyday things are rising. There wasn’t any extra income in the paycheck. Even a situation with close friends of the congregation I belong to had gotten outta control and words that should have never been uttered got uttered.

The funny thing to note from Gideon’s call is that the Angel of the LORD was sitting under a tree watching Gideon struggle. And just like Gideon, I am too deep in my own mess to even notice or bother to cry out, “ABBA FATHER where are you?” Nope like Gideon, YHVH comes from nowhere with His grace and mercy and provided me peace to get through the troubles that have just mounted up over the past few months. Then my head fell when Chris made this point, “We cry out to God about the symptom but not the cause. When the cause is our not relying on Him—we have not listened to Him.” That was me at this moment and still can be at times.

But it doesn’t always have to be like this. As a matter of fact it shouldn’t ever be this way at all. We can put strife under our feet. Romans 16:20 Paul writes this, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” A promise from God followed by the blessing of God. The grace of Jesus making us able to abide in His truth, to keep from falling, to stand against every assault of Satan, to bear up under every temptation and get the victory over our adversary. To put it as Chris did, “A charge to put strife under our feet.” A call to bear arms that needs no second or third amending…Amen? – Chris Hughes blogs weekly for Freedom Fighter and is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 94-96; Galatians 1

Quote of the day: “Happy are the simple followers of Jesus Christ who have been overcome by his grace, and are able to sing the praise of the all-sufficient grace of Christ with humbleness of heart.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Verse to Memorize: I rise before the dawning of the morning and I cry for help; I hope in your Word. My eyes are awake through the night watches, that I might meditate on Your Word. Psalm 119:147-148