Is your revolt your strength?

Angel of the Lord, Christ, evil before God, God, intelligent faith, set them free, times and in different ways,

“And the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey.” (Judges 6:2-4)

The people of Israel were living in despair and fear. They came from a ‘slave’ background and knew that God had set them free from slavery. He had made them a prosperous nation.

Their existence and the blessings that God had given to them caused their neighbours to become jealous. They tried to destroy Israel many times and in different ways.

Israel did evil before God and started worshipping Baal, who was introduced to them as the god of rain. Agriculture was their speciality. As they were in the Middle East, they needed water, which was scarce.

They started sacrificing to Baal, which offended God. He allowed the nations around Israel to prevail against them, causing them to lack the two most essential things in life:

1. Food — The enemies would steal their food during harvest season.
2. Protection — They were hiding in caves from the enemies.

Instead of reacting by faith, they accepted the situation for what it was. Only one man chose not to accept it—Gideon. God found him working, trying to gather food while everyone else was hiding.

You may have been enslaved by unfair circumstances, but your struggle is against the evil one—Satan.

Revolt is a fuel for your faith. It’s not enough to be revolted against the situation, but against…

“Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” (Judges 6:11-13)

God found intelligent faith in this. It impressed Him.

We all have the same right as Gideon. He knew what God was supposed to do. He knew God’s promises.

If you compare your life to the promises of God and see that it is not the same, you should be revolted.

There are two types of people—those who don’t care and those who have nothing to lose.

Will you accept your life the way it is?

Bishop Randal Brito
bishop@uckgnew.org