"Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us ... ?!" Judges 6:13
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"Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us: and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?" (Judges 6:13)
Sometimes I say to the Lord, "Where are the miracles I know You can do?" How do I know He can do them? He endued me with power from on high (Luke 24:49). God filled me with His Holy Spirit as He promised to all that obey Him (Acts 5:32). I didn't know how that was going to happen; but, when I least expected it, He gave me the promise of His Spirit. Now, that was a miracle. That was my Red Sea. I now know He can do everything else that He promised in His word. So, I can only ask Him, "Why aren't you doing it?"
I do not take the word "miracle" lightly. I hear that word used in so many pretexts that waterdown what a miracle is. A miracle is an event that cannot be explained by any other explanation. It's something that seems impossible happening. I hear people, who go through chemotherapy and say, "God healed me." Well, He may have, but medical science will say it was the chemotherapy. I moved to another state, and I found an excellent job in just the right amount of time. I do believe God was in control of that. But, it wasn't a miracle.
A miracle is when a whithered hand becomes normal instantly by prayer. A miracle was when the Lord told Peter to go down to the sea, cast in his fishing line, and the first fish that he pulled out had a coin that would pay for their taxes. A miracle is when you see an angel who gives you a revelation from God. A miracle is when a person is raised from the dead. Those are true miracles: the impossible happening.
So, what was God's answer when Gideon asked him, "Where are the miracles?"
"And the Lord looked upon him, and said, 'Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?' " (Judges 6:14)
The reason God just looked at Gideon is because He had already told the Israelites why there were no miracles and no victory. He had told them through a prophet: "Ye have not obeyed my voice." (Judges 6:10) Is it possible that's why we don't see miracles today?
Gideon responded to the Lord in this manner.
"Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." (Judges 6:15)
Gideon was the low man on the totem pole. He was probably someone that other people looked down upon, maybe even laughed at. It doesn't matter how little you are or how lowly you may seem to other people, God can use you for His will and His glory if you will obey Him. God has a way of choosing the lowest of people to accomplish His will.
"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence." (1 Corinthians 1:27-28)
When Paul the apostle had an infirmity, he asked the Lord three times to take it away. But, the Lord answered him this.
" 'My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
We need to examine ourselves and ask the Lord, where are the miracles? I'm constantly praying that the Lord will show us our secret sins. Show us what we are doing wrong, and purge us and cleanse us of every wrong way. And I don't just point a finger and tell him to fix the rest of the church. I say, "Start here, Lord. Start here."