Circumstances

Judges 6:1,7,11-12 NKJV
“Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years…And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites…

Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree…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!”

Here’s the situation, Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord allowed the Midianites to ravage Israel for seven years. The first problem is, Israel did not change their ways until later and God heard them, and He sent an angel to Gideon while He was in hiding in a winepress.

The angel said to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor.” Gideon did not feel like a mighty man or even look like a mighty man, but God knew what was in Gideon.

As the story unfolds, Gideon shows signs of being fearful, but eventually he does as the Lord commanded him to do. Gideon wanted God to change the circumstances for himself and Israel, but God would use the circumstances to change Gideon and Israel to be who they were designed to be.

It happens that way in our own lives. We face tough circumstances, and we ask God, sometimes beg God, to remove the circumstances. Instead God uses those circumstances to change us and to put us where we belong, to make us who we are supposed to be.

Prayer:
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalms 139:23-24). Mold me, make me, fill me, use me for Your divine purpose, I ask in Your name Lord Jesus, Amen!