Clay Pots and Miracles
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)
It's not that I don't understand the Lord's mustard seed analogy. I do. God uses our faith, no matter how small, to do great things. Even move mountains. But I have difficulty identifying with a seed. Mustard, oak -- or redwood, they're all the same to me.
Gideon, on the other hand -- now there's an illustration of small faith I can set roots into. You might remember the story in Judges, chapter 6.
For seven fear-filled years, the Midianites spread terror across Israel. Bands of marauders ravaged villages, slaughtered men, women and children and stole their livestock. During sowing season, they swooped across the land, destroying Israel's budding crops. They returned during harvest to take everything their earlier plunder missed. Israelites lived like hunted animals, hiding in caves and along cliffs. What wheat they could harvest in secret, they had to thresh and eat in secret -- always looking over their shoulders, jumping with fear at every gust of wind or snap of a branch.
Gideon was one of those Israelites. One day, as he threshed his meager wheat harvest in a wine press, an angel appeared and called out, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior" (Judges 6:12).
If Gideon was like me, he hardly paid attention to the divine messenger. The "valiant warrior" believed God had abandoned him to a hopeless destiny. He, and all Israel, had nothing to look forward to except fearing for their lives with each sunrise and sunset. "Valiant warrior?" he probably thought to himself. "Yeah, right. So why am I hiding in this wine press?"
Putting his thoughts into words, he turned to the angel and challenged, "If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?" A moment later he added, "And where are the miracles we've heard about all our lives?"
Gideon finished his complaint and returned to threshing wheat. The angel, undaunted by Gideon's skepticism, answered, "Go in this your faith, and deliver Israel."
I suppose Gideon laughed aloud. What faith? Israel had nothing more lethal than pitchforks and clubs. How could they defeat an enemy equipped with the latest weapons technology? Talk about moving mountains. Either the divine being just didn't get it -- or he knew something Gideon didn't. Either the angel enjoyed toying with him, or he saw a mustard-seed faith buried within Gideon where only the Spirit of God could see.
If you remember the story, you know how it ends. Gideon needed several more "proofs" that God was with him, but eventually -- armed with nothing more than clay pots, torches and a dash of faith -- he won a miraculous victory for the Lord and for Israel.
What desperate problems do we struggle against? What Midianites rob us of hope? What do they call themselves? Illness? Unemployment? Divorce? Loss? It's time we step away from the wine press and move into the open. No longer need we shrink from shadows and jump at every snap of a branch. God is with us. Always. And if we listen carefully, we will hear Him say to us, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior." Whether our faith is as small as a mustard-seed . . . or smaller, God says it again and again, "Go in this your strength and defeat your enemy."
He will use our clay pots and torches to help us win back our land.
Rmaffeo@comcast.net
It's not that I don't understand the Lord's mustard seed analogy. I do. God uses our faith, no matter how small, to do great things. Even move mountains. But I have difficulty identifying with a seed. Mustard, oak -- or redwood, they're all the same to me.
Gideon, on the other hand -- now there's an illustration of small faith I can set roots into. You might remember the story in Judges, chapter 6.
For seven fear-filled years, the Midianites spread terror across Israel. Bands of marauders ravaged villages, slaughtered men, women and children and stole their livestock. During sowing season, they swooped across the land, destroying Israel's budding crops. They returned during harvest to take everything their earlier plunder missed. Israelites lived like hunted animals, hiding in caves and along cliffs. What wheat they could harvest in secret, they had to thresh and eat in secret -- always looking over their shoulders, jumping with fear at every gust of wind or snap of a branch.
Gideon was one of those Israelites. One day, as he threshed his meager wheat harvest in a wine press, an angel appeared and called out, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior" (Judges 6:12).
If Gideon was like me, he hardly paid attention to the divine messenger. The "valiant warrior" believed God had abandoned him to a hopeless destiny. He, and all Israel, had nothing to look forward to except fearing for their lives with each sunrise and sunset. "Valiant warrior?" he probably thought to himself. "Yeah, right. So why am I hiding in this wine press?"
Putting his thoughts into words, he turned to the angel and challenged, "If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?" A moment later he added, "And where are the miracles we've heard about all our lives?"
Gideon finished his complaint and returned to threshing wheat. The angel, undaunted by Gideon's skepticism, answered, "Go in this your faith, and deliver Israel."
I suppose Gideon laughed aloud. What faith? Israel had nothing more lethal than pitchforks and clubs. How could they defeat an enemy equipped with the latest weapons technology? Talk about moving mountains. Either the divine being just didn't get it -- or he knew something Gideon didn't. Either the angel enjoyed toying with him, or he saw a mustard-seed faith buried within Gideon where only the Spirit of God could see.
If you remember the story, you know how it ends. Gideon needed several more "proofs" that God was with him, but eventually -- armed with nothing more than clay pots, torches and a dash of faith -- he won a miraculous victory for the Lord and for Israel.
What desperate problems do we struggle against? What Midianites rob us of hope? What do they call themselves? Illness? Unemployment? Divorce? Loss? It's time we step away from the wine press and move into the open. No longer need we shrink from shadows and jump at every snap of a branch. God is with us. Always. And if we listen carefully, we will hear Him say to us, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior." Whether our faith is as small as a mustard-seed . . . or smaller, God says it again and again, "Go in this your strength and defeat your enemy."
He will use our clay pots and torches to help us win back our land.
Rmaffeo@comcast.net
posted by rich at
11:52 PM
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