Chosen to Make a Difference

In the book of Joshua the children of Israel were victorious warriors who were following God and claiming God's promise. 

In Judges, a new generation grew up.  Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked (Judges 2:17).

People haven't changed much.  How easily forgotten are the lessons learned by previous generations. Pridefulness makes us think that we are smarter and more accomplished than our parents and grandparents.  The children of Israel arrogantly rested in the military successes of their forefathers.  No longer did they depend on the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to lead them.  No longer did they celebrate the crossings of the Red Sea and the Jordan River.  They had come to believe their sufficiency was in themselves and not in God who had delivered them from Egypt and established them in Canaan.

In the midst of this apostasy, God's spirit continued to move.  He continued to raise up leaders to challenge Israel and to direct them back to the source of their strength and hope. 

Leaders who were willing to take a stand.

God chose leaders who didn't always fit the mold.  Women.  A wimp.  A disabled person.  People who might have been viewed as incapable and whose lives may have seemed inconsequential. Yet these people became leaders who changed the outcomes of battles and reminded the people of God's power and love for them. 

A woman named Deborah.  

After the need for military leadership waned, God raised up judges to lead the land.  Until Deborah, all of the judges named were men, but at that time a woman was appointed to leadership. Deborah was respected, both for her judgement and military prowess.  When God instructed Deborah to direct Barak, a commander in the army, to complete the conquest of Canaan, he balked and agreed to go only if she accompanied him.  Deborah agreed, but warned that because of his reluctance to go, the honor of defeating Sisera, the Canaanite commander, would go to a woman.   

A woman named Jael.   

Barak had a shrewd plan of attack, and Sisera's entire army was killed.  Sisera alone fled for his life, into the tent of Jael.  Jael's husband and Sisera's king were on good terms.  Sisera didn't know it, but Jael didn't feel as hospitable toward him as her husband had.  He went into her tent, drank some milk, told her to stand guard at the tent door while he went to sleep.  She waited until he went to sleep and drove the tent peg through his temple.   

Don't mess with Jael. 

Forty-seven years later -- forty of those peaceful, and Israel had once again abandoned their faith in God.   At that time another unlikely leader came to power.  Reluctantly.  He seemed more than content to hide out threshing wheat in a winepress.  A winepress?   

Gideon never professed to have great courage. 

Or great faith.  God called.  He answered, in a squeaky voice.  "But Lord".  "But Lord, surely you have made a mistake."  "But Lord, surely you can find a man more suited for the job."  But Lord, how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. (Judges 6:15) 

God sees what we can become, not how we are.  The angel addressed Gideon as a "mighty warrior".  He didn't look like one when he was hiding out in the cave using the press that was designed to extract wine to make flour.  Nor did he look like one when he asked for a sign that it was really God calling him.  So God gave him a sign.  Did fire from a rock convince him?  No, he needed more convincing.  He requested a wet fleece and dry ground, then a dry fleece and wet ground before he answered the call. 

Even then, he wasn't ready to lead the army into battle against Midian.  He agreed to go, but was uncertain of victory.  God spoke to him and sent him to hide out and listen in on a conversation in the Midianite camp. 

Gideon was good at hiding out.  Remember the winepress.

Gideon heard two Midianites talking  One shared a dream.  The other interpreted.  This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon. God has given the Midianites into his hands. (Judges 7:14).   

Gideon finally got it.  He led the army.  The battle was won.   

Don't mess with Gideon when he's finally convinced of what God can do. 

Fast forward over a hundred years later.  Israel was still rebelling.  They had again abandoned their faith.  But God is faithful to the faithless.  An infertile couple was visited by an angel and told they would give birth to a son. He would be a Nazirite.  They named him Samson. 

Samson was destined for greatness.  He looked like a leader. But bad choices changed the course of his life.  He had a weakness, and it wasn't short hair. 

It was women.   

Samson bought a night with a prostitute, sold the secret of his physical strength, and the Lord left him. Left powerless to defend himself, he could do nothing as the Philistines gouged out his eyes and shackled him.  Later they mocked him and used him for entertainment like some sick sideshow spectacle.  The once impressive leader became an impotent fool. 

His hair grew back.  So did his relationship with God. 

Samson did more after his blindness than he ever did when he had sight.  His disability focused him on the source of his ability.  When he was being taunted at a celebration for the Philistine God Dagon, Samson prayed for God to strengthen him one more time.  God did.  Samson pushed on the central pillars of the temple, and the building came down on the three thousand people who were in it.  Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived (Judges 16:30). 

Deborah.  Jael.  Gideon.  Samson.  Not the typical leaders.  Weak by the world's standards. Flawed.  Disabled. 

CHOSEN.  Chosen to impact their world.  Chosen to make a difference. 

God doesn't choose us because of what we have to offer.  He chooses us because of what he can do through us.  

Each of us has been chosen.  Chosen by God to make a difference.  Whether we allow Him to use us is up to us.  God did not put us on this earth to wile away our seventy plus years waiting for Him to take us home.  Sure, we need to be anticipating our next life.  But we need to be spending our time and energy in this one fighting the enemy.  Our enemy isn't the Canaanites or the Philistines.  It isn't the Taliban or terrorists.   1 Peter 5:8 identifies Satan as our enemy who is trying to destroy us.  Trying to destroy us and prevent us from reaching the millions, maybe billions, who don't know who Jesus is and what He did for them. 

Chosen to fight.  Chosen to preach.  Mark 16:15 says Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. You have an appointment to do His work.  Will you accept the challenge? 

Deborah.  Jael.  Gideon.  Samson.  Flawed, weak, disabled.  Brad.  Kierra.  Brooke.  Lucas.  Brittany. Jamal.  Rick.  Alex.  Each of us can add our names to the list.  The list of the flawed, weak, and disabled.  The list of people God has chosen.

Chosen to impact the world.  Chosen to make a difference.