Emotions, ignoring facts and having data only keeps God invisible

Scripture Read: Judges 6:12-13 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then 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 abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Application: As we see Gideon’s encounter with the Lord I pray Father that we can see ourselves and learn from some of the warnings this passage brings. Notice first, the accusation Gideon brings: “If”, here Gideon is just being honest which the Lord never considers wrong. We are always to remember Who we are talking to, irreverence is never acceptable, even while we are being honest. Gideon addressed the Lord with respect as he shared from his heart that it does not seem like the Lord is with them. Here is where we need to allow the Holy Spirit to help us discern the difference between “valid” and “right or wrong”. Every feeling an individual has is a valid emotion. They feel it and that is a fact. To try and convince them that they don’t is not only silly, it is wrong. The issue that needs to be dealt with is; is that emotion right or wrong? We feel something deeply, yes, but is it a lie or truth. That makes all the difference in the world! The Spirit of God can and will guide us to that reality if we will listen to Him. 

This leads us to the next point concerning Gideon; his feelings were honest, but not his facts. It was clear why God was no longer blessing his people. The statues of the idols were all over the land and Gideon could see them. We must have the courage to face the facts, no matter how difficult they may be, in order to give the Lord the right He has to instruct us on the dangers of the lifestyles that have brought the removal of His hand of blessing. It is also the only way for us to see the Lord show mercy and intercede on our behalf in the situation we are in. The Lord is a good Father, He would never bless a child when that child is doing things that lead to destruction. That would send a message of condoning that behavior and keep that child in the sinful condition. As a good Father He desires us to turn away from things that would destroy us, and when we do He blesses us to confirm the direction we have taken. The last item we need to remind ourselves is the sad truth of what happens if we only pass on data to the next generation instead of exampling experience in front of them? Notice Gideon asked where was this great miracle working God our parents had TOLD us about. There’s the rub! Moses had instructed Israel to live with God on a moment-to-moment basis and share that experience with their children 24/7. We are the ones that took the concept of “teaching” and “instruction” and placed that in a period of time, in a classroom. God did not mean that. His idea of those two concepts is “modeling” it before your children and “meditating” on those experiences with your children. The God Gideon knew of were nothing more than stories of long ago, by people he had never met. God had intended Gideon to grow up seeing his grandfather and father living and experiencing the power of God in their lives. This has happened in the church! Many “next” generation individuals have only heard about Jesus and His power – they have not seen it modeled by their parents. We need to live so close to God that His presence is obvious for our children to see!

Meditation Questions: When you “feel” something strongly what do you do with those emotions? Do you have any topics you feel you cannot share with the Lord? When you discover that what your feeling is not true, what do you do with that? When you hear facts that you do not like what do you do? Do you have someone in your life that will challenge you with the truth, no matter how painful? What does your answer show you? Do people see God in your life or just hear about Him? What does your answer show you?