Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
On the first Saturday of each month, we open the church for a two-hour women’s prayer meeting, a time we set aside to consecrate the month to God and to stand in agreement and petition our Heavenly Father for the things we have need of. Matthew 18:19-20 promises “Again I say unto you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” What a promise! His manifested power will show up when as little as two people come together and we can rest assured that if we ask, God will answer. 1 John 5:14-15 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” Too many Christians get stuck on if it is His will, the Bible clearly states God’s will for us and gives us promises we can stand on and take to God in prayer knowing that He hears us and He keeps His promises. “God is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and will not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Numbers 23:19. Then He promised in Isaiah 55:11 “So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it will accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing which I sent it.” Those promises alone ought to get deep in your spirit and build your faith to believe for the impossible. Back to my story, as I was walking around the church building praying over each room and the people who meet in them, I kept hearing the word discouragement. I knew the word was for me; there have been somethings in my life that have tried to defy the Most High God that I serve and the strongholds have not come down yet. Then I felt impressed that the word was not only for me, but many in the body of Christ. I have friends that have prayed fervently that are still facing serious illnesses, some who have faced years of problems in their families, some have children involved in sins that have them alarmed and the list goes on. They have prayed and they have fasted, finally seeing some results and then there is a setback. Kind of like taking one step forward then two steps back, they feel stuck in the problem they face each day. I think in some ways it is harder for those of us who know God is able to do anything, and then wonder why He has not done it yet. What we forget is God also promises in Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Even though I do not know a scripture that states: “He is not on my human timeframe,” I know from personal experience many prayers are not answered in the way or time that I think they should be answered and I find myself discouraged.
In Judges 6-7 we find the story of a man who was familiar with taking one step forward and two steps back, Gideon. Gideon lived in a time when” the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and He delivered them into the hand of Midian.” God loves us too much to let us continue down a bad path, if we will not heed His voice and correct our sins and wrong behaviors, He will allow something to get our attention. No, I am not saying that all the problems you are facing are sin, sometimes it is life and sometimes our struggles are caused by the enemy, and sometimes God wants to get your attention before you make a serious mistake. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant; for the devil your advisory the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High. In Gideon’s case, the Israelites had started to worship Baal. God turned them over to the hand of Midian. After the Israelites had sown the seed and watched the crops grow, about the time of harvest, the Midianites and Amalekites would bring their livestock in and devour the wheat before it could be harvested. The children of Israel suffered great loss, no food to eat, or feed their livestock and no wheat to sell for a profit. Finally, the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. God sent a word of encouragement through a prophet warning them that the calamity they faced was because they worshipped other gods. Aren’t you thankful that God does not give up on us even when we choose to bow to another god? While I have never bowed to a statue of a false god, there have been things that I have allowed to be the lord of my life: fear, anger, unforgiveness, busyness, my family, anything that takes my love that rightfully belongs to God and I put it on the throne of my heart, it becomes a false god, even things that are good that become more important than God. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promises as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” After they cried out to God, He sent the Angel of the Lord to encourage Gideon (There is discussion whether the Angel of the Lord was Jesus or just an angel.) In the midst of all the pillage, Gideon still had the faith to keep sowing seeds and was willing to fight for his harvest. God sent His word (the Angel of the Lord) to Gideon and reassured him that the Lord was with him. I do not know about you, but to be reminded that God has not forsaken me or left me alone in my times of trouble in itself is encouraging. Just like with the three Hebrew children, He is in the midst of them, even though the fires were all around. After Gideon was reassured of God’s presence, the Angel of the Lord told him who he was. He called Gideon “a mighty man of valor!” A man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time trying to hide and just survive, is called a mighty man of valor. (Gideon was hiding in a winepress threshing wheat.) God does not just see us for who we are now, He looks into the future and sees who we will become. Isaiah 46:10 “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying “My counsel shall stand and I will do all My pleasure.” The Angel of the Lord called Gideon a mighty man of valor. First Gideon questioned God, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” It is so easy when we are discouraged to blame God and accuse Him of leaving in the midst of the storms in our life. But just as the Angel reassured Gideon, we can rest in the same assurance that God has not left you no matter how awful things seem at this season. Then the Angel of the Lord told him to go in his might and save Israel. After we get done accusing God, we deny who we are in Christ. God gives a strategy to solve the problems we are facing, and we start telling Him why we can not do what He has instructed us to do. Maybe in our own strength we can not do what God has called us to do, but just like with Gideon, God said “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites.” Many in the church have forgotten Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Nothing is impossible with God, when He gives you a strategy, rest assured He will bring the desired end, we just have to be obedient.
Gideon suffered from discouragement; he sowed the seed for seven years and watched the Midianites invade Israel and eat all of his harvest. Discouragement: the loss of confidence, hope, or enthusiasm or an action that tries to make someone stop doing something. I think it is an attack on our faith. The opposite of discouragement is encouragement. The Greek word we get from the English word encouragement is comfort. Just like the Angel of the Lord knew where Gideon was and the discouragement he was facing, Jesus knows where we are and the battles we are facing. He knows the battles you have faced that have gone on too long, the sickness that has not healed, or the relationships that are still messed up. While we think He is not listening or He does not care, the Word of God tells a different story. God is giving time for the circumstances to do a work in us. While Proverbs 13:12 tells us, Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” we have this promise, “but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” While God is working out our problems, He is working a far greater treasure in us. James 1:2-4” My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers’ temptations. Knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Romans 5:3-5 states it this way, “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance character and character hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. “ God knows you and He is calling you into your destiny, He has a plan for your life that is far greater than you can imagine. Remember God Himself is your comfort! “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. “ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. Cathy Nesmith