Gideon was busy crushing wheat in the wine press. He was doing it there to hide from the Midianites who had been stealing their wheat for the past seven years. While he was busy, suddenly the Angel of the Lord came to him and told him that the Lord was with him. Whatever task the Lord was going to give Gideon to do, the Lord would be with him.

But Gideon questions this. If the Lord was with him, why did the Lord let the Midianites steal from them for all these years? Gideon couldn’t see that the Lord was with them. It sure didn’t look like it to him.

And so he questions the Lord: “We hear about your miracles, but we haven’t seen them. You said you were with us, but all we see is the Midianites attacking us. Where are you Lord?”

Do you know that so often we ask the Lord the same thing? So often when we find it hard to obey the Lord, we say or think, “Lord you said you would help me, but I keep on sinning. Why aren’t you helping me? Or, I know that I am not supposed to use bad language but it’s so hard to do when everyone around me does. Why don’t you make it easier for me Lord?”

But we cannot blame the Lord, just like Gideon should not have blamed the Lord. Instead Gideon should have looked at his own life and the life of the Israelites and seen how they had been disobedient. When we aren’t obeying the Lord, when we aren’t reading the Bible, then we will often feel like God isn’t helping us.

But how did God respond to Gideon? Did he get angry at him? No, instead God promised again to be with him. And that’s God’s promise to all of us. You are God’s covenant child and so he will be with you! Don’t blame God when you are struggling. Instead look closely at your life and see where you are disobedient, and ask God to help you in your struggles. He will be with you! He will go with you!

Reflection with your child:

What should you do if you feel like God isn’t helping you?

Source: Sermon by Rev. R. Vermeulen