The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 18 March 2020 – TOPIC: THE LORD IS WITH YOU IN ALL SITUATIONS

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DATE: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, 2020
TOPIC: THE LORD IS WITH YOU IN ALL SITUATIONS
READ: JUDGES 6:11-24 (NKJV)

11. 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.
12. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD [is] with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13. 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.”
14. Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15. So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan [is] the weakest in Manasseh, and I [am] the least in my father’s house.”
16. And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”
17. Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.
18. “Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set [it] before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”
19. So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought [them] out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented [them.]
20. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay [them] on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.
21. Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that [was] in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.
22. Now Gideon perceived that He [was] the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”
23. Then the LORD said to him, “Peace [be] with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”
24. So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-[Is-Peace.] To this day it [is] still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

THE MESSAGE:

In continuation to our reading yesterday, God answered the cry of the people of Israel by sending an Angel to Gideon to encourage him to launch an onslaught on Midian. The Angel met him trying to hide some wheat away from the plunderers. He assured him God was with the people but Gideon doubted the Lord being with them because of their experience(verse 13). We can sense very deep depression in the answer of Gideon to the Angel. However, the Angel addressed Gideon as a mighty man of valour; Gideon was surprised at such promotion because he never felt qualified for such title. Was he not acting out of fear and hiding grain?

God never calls the qualified. He qualifies those He calls. Never look down on your abilities.
All these came upon the people of Israel because of their sin. Our nation has also annoyed God so much that we pass through similar situations today. Animals are now left on purpose in many places to destroy crops, with threats to life if challenged! Women are raped in their farms and farmers are scared away from their farmlands. Do not panic. God will send help through a modern Gideon. It may take time but it must surely come. Don’t lose hope. The Israelites suffered it for seven years before help came. Ours may not last that long!

PRAYER: Almighty Father, may You forgive us and send a Gideon today to rescue us from modern day Midianites.