Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Power of "With" | Judges | Judges 6:1-35

Episode Date: September 27, 2021

Have you ever felt inadequate for something God has called you to do? Do you think God couldn't or wouldn't use you because of your inadequacy? https://twitter.com/KeithSimon_ (Keith) continues our series on Judges by describing how God uses an unlikely leader in https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%206%3A1-35&version=NIV (Judges 6). Listen to today's episode to find out how the word "with" changes everything. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our https://www.thecrossingchurch.com/ (website) and follow us on https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (Facebook), https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (Instagram), and https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (Twitter) @TheCrossingCOMO and @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks (https://www.facebook.com/TenMinuteBibleTalks) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/ (https://www.instagram.com/thecrossingcomo/) Twitter: https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast (https://twitter.com/tmbtpodcast) Passages https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%206%3A1-35&version=NIV (Judges 6:1-35) Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now.

Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. And I'm Patrick Miller. Right now, we're going through the Book of Judges. Hey, Patrick and I are starting a new podcast. It's called Truth Over Tribe, where we talk about cultural and political issues from a Christian point of view. If you're interested, subscribe to Truth Over Tribe on your podcast player, so you won't miss any of the episodes.

Judges Chapter 6 is packed with practical truth. So buckle up and listen quickly. The story starts with Israel enduring the worst oppression we've seen so far in the book of judges. This is how the chapter starts in verse 1. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. The Midianites weren't really interested in political control, as much as they were in economic exploitation. Whenever Israel planted crops, the Midianites would invade and either steal the crops and take them back to their own people for food, or they would damage Israel's crops so that they couldn't use them.

Either way, Israel was in a bad spot. Verse 6. Midians so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. Now, when Israel prays for help, what kind of help do you think they had in mind? What do you think they were asking God to do? I'm pretty sure they were looking for God to send some sort of warrior who would lead them to a military victory over their enemies and free them from oppression to the Midianites. So you can imagine their surprise and their disappointment when that's not who God sent them. Verse 7.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet. A prophet? I'm pretty sure that they were not praying for a prophet. I'm pretty sure they didn't want a prophet. Imagine being stranded on the side of the road because your car's broken down. You call and ask for help, but instead of sending a car mechanic, they send you a philosophy professor. Thanks a lot. Israel wanted a warrior to deliver them, but God sent a prophet to instruct them.

They may not have wanted a prophet, but they needed a prophet. Because the prophet told them why they were in slavery and experiencing a prophet. oppression. God speaks to the prophet, and here's what he says. I am the Lord your God. Do not worship the God of the Amarites in whose land you live, but you have not listened to me. In other words, he's telling them, here's the reason you're in the position you're in. Here's the reason that you are oppressed. Here's the reason that sin has gotten the upper hand in your life. Here's the reason that you're miserable. You refuse to listen and obey me. See, sin makes promises to us. It promises that it will make us happier, but it never lives up to those promises. Sin never makes you happier. In fact,

in the long run, sin will always leave you miserable. Sin will take you further than you want to go. Sin will keep you longer than you want to stay. And sin will cost you more than you want to pay. Do you hear the warning to us in that story? This story tells us, don't fall for the false promises of sin because eventually it will oppress you. Eventually it will turn on you. Eventually it will leave you empty. So is there an area of your life in which you're believing the lie that sin makes you happier than obeying God? You might just want to pause and ask God to show you any area of your life.

your life that you are rebelling against him in? Is there any area of my life that I have sinned that I need to confess to you? So first, God sends them a prophet to reach the heart of the Israelites. And then, as we keep reading in Judges 6, we find that he raises up a deliverer to rescue them from oppression. We've seen in the book of judges that God uses unlikely people to accomplish his plan. That ensures that God gets the glory, not us. We are vessels. We are tools. Nothing more. In Judges Chapter 6, God comes to maybe the unlikeliest of any of the judges, a man named Gideon. Verse 12. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said,

The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Now, as this story progresses, you find that Gideon is anything but a mighty warrior. One of the first things Gideon does is try to come up with reasons. you might call them excuses of why this whole thing must be a mistake. Verse 15. Pardon me, my Lord Gideon replied. But how could I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I'm the least in my family.

Now, notice what Gideon is doing. He's looking at himself and he's not impressed. He's getting out his resume and saying, okay, look, I'm in the least important family in the weakest of tribes. So look, I'm not an impressive person. God, you must have made a mistake. Gideon concludes that God wouldn't use him, couldn't use him. That sounds like us, doesn't it?

God, you don't know my sin. God, you don't know that I'm not a good communicator. God, you must have forgotten that I haven't been a Christian very long. God, don't you know I'm fearful? Don't you know all my inadequacies? We have a whole list of reasons why there's no way that God would use us. Verse 16. The Lord answered Gideon, I will be with you and will strike down all the Midianites. God doesn't try to convince Gideon that he's wrong about himself. He doesn't say, hey, Gideon, you're more

impressive than you realize, or you're sharper than other people think, or your resume, hey, it's got potential. He doesn't say to Gideon, stop underselling yourself. In fact, it's almost as if God agrees that Gideon isn't up to the task. But there's one word in what God says to him that changes everything. It's a small word. It's a word that is so easy to overlook. It is the word with. Who knew that a preposition contained so much power?

But in verse 12, it says, The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. And after hearing all of Gideon's excuses, God says to him in verse 16, I will be with you. See, Gideon still had to go out and fight the battles, but God promised that he would go into battle with him. He would work in and through him.

Gideon still had to make all the decisions, but God was going to be with him. He was going to give him wisdom. Whatever God calls you to do, he promises to go with you. So maybe you're getting ready to start a new job. And God says, I'm going to go with you, not just on the first day, but every day.

I'm going to go with you as you sit in meetings, as you do your work. Or maybe you're getting ready to get married and you're a bit nervous about it. Or have a first child and you feel a little bit overwhelmed. Or have a child with disabilities and you don't feel adequate to love and raise this child. Know this. You don't go alone. God promises to go with you and to give you the grace and wisdom and patience and everything else you'll need. Maybe God has put people in your life that you could invite to church or talk to about Jesus, but you're nervous and you feel inadequate.

Guess what? You are inadequate, but God isn't. And he's promised to go with you into that conversation where you invite your coworker to church. He's promised to go with you as you agree to lead a small group or whatever else your church is asking you to do. God has promised to go with you in all the things. things he has called you to do. God is with us. There is power in the word with. Hold on to it with all your might. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with.

Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.