Performing for an audience of One!

Scripture Read: Judges 4:6-9 Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun. ‘I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his many troops to the river Kishon, and I will give him into your hand.’ ” Then Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” She said, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.

Application: Lord as we continue reading about Deborah, help us to not only see the greatness of her character, let us determine to imitate those things in her that please You. Deborah ignored the society she lived in; as far as how it influenced her, she walked with God. She demonstrated her maturity that all great leaders possess as she waited on God. Through 20 years of living under the harsh rule of an idolatress King, she was faithful to minister until God spoke and commanded her to help the nation of Israel to be delivered. In this next section of scripture she reveals her humility. This is a character trait that is essential in every leader, but many times is lacking. The limelight of leadership can deceive the leader into believing that he or she is what is important. The leader that possesses this quality understands what is important is the plan of God and they have been privileged to be included in the execution of that plan. They see themselves as an important part, yes, but only because God has made them important. Deborah expresses her humility clearly in her response to Barak’s response to her counsel. Barak failed to “step up” and be the leader that God intended him to be. I will return to that thought in a moment, but first I would like to celebrate what Deborah shows us. 

Not only did Deborah walk with God, waited on God, she also worked for God! No ego involved, she did not put Barak down and tell him how much better she is. She made it clear to him that he was missing what God had intended and due to that God will give the victory to someone else!  When we think of Deborah working for God, with no personal agenda we should ask ourselves: Am I doing this to be appreciated? When our agenda is His agenda appreciation is never the drive. Sure it feels good, but just the knowledge that He is pleased is enough, even if no one else appreciates it. Lastly the sad truth we must learn from Barak is that many times we rob what God desires to do in our lives by our unwillingness to just follow Him and do what He says.

Meditation Questions: How important is it to you that people notice what you do and thank you for it? When someone else is being honored, does that give you joy? When your name is left out of a list of a group that is being honored, how do you handle that? Have you ever done something that God led you to do and kept it a secret just between you and He? How often do you take your agenda to God and ask Him to mold it to His agenda? What does that say? 

Waiting is worth it!

Scripture Read: Judges 4:1-6 Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. The sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment. Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the Lord, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun.

Application: Deborah walked with God, refusing to allow the dismal conditions of her society to change her commitment to the Lord. What we also see in this text is one of the most difficult things we humans find to do. Wait! More then ever we live in an instamatic culture and age. From fast food to instant messaging, DVRs to reporting every movement of everyday to everyone on the internet. This has made us a very impatient people. We want what we want and we want it NOW! Deborah was a individual that waited on God, something, if we are honest, is difficult to do. His timing does not revolve around us, but around His plans. God is very, very patient. His plans unfold just as He desires and the timing is always perfect according to the eternal perspective. That’s why we struggle with it because our paradigm is a temporal one. We do not see the BIG picture nor understand the final goal. The ironic truth about God’s timing is that many times the harder we try to make things happen the less likely they will. 

The old story about a man walking wearing a coat, the Cold Wind and the Sun is a great example. The Cold Wind claimed he could get the man’s coat off. The Wind blew and blew; this only made the man cling onto his coat tighter. The Sun just smiled, turned up his heat and just waited! In no time the coat came off. Many times we find ourselves being the Wind, trying through shear “will power” to make things happen. God on the other hand just smiles and waits as His plans unfold in His time. Deborah was faithful to her call, even though she also was under the harsh rule of Jabin for 20 years! Yet, she waited until the Lord moved her to call for Barak to give instruction of God’s deliverance. This leads us to another important question: Am I willing to pay the price to see God move? That may include just waiting, not knowing when His time to move will come. If we are willing to pay the price, which has the understanding that may include waiting, AND we do not go on vacation expecting a phone call from the Lord, we will, like Deborah, be faithful where we are at no matter how long the wait is. Then God will reveal His plan and we will reap the fruit!  

Meditation Questions: What do you feel when you have to wait for what you want? What do you do with those emotions? How many times in your life do you think you have run ahead of the Lord? What did you learn from those experiences? Can you think of a time when you waited for the Lord to reveal what He desired? What did you learn from those experiences? Are you willing to wait on His timing? What does your answer show you?

Being what you are, no matter what everyone else is doing

Scripture Read: Judges 4:1-5 Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor; and the commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. The sons of Israel cried to the Lord; for he had nine hundred iron chariots, and he oppressed the sons of Israel severely for twenty years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment.

           

Application: The story of Deborah has much to challenge us in the world we live today. Today is very much like the day Deborah lived in – “Everyman did what was right in his own eyes”. When this condition in society is prevalent, the question that arises is what can you do when the people in authority do not do right? This is the first truth that is communicated in the story of Deborah. First, we must remind ourselves the difference between “roles” and “essence”. In essence men and women are seen as equal in God’s eyes – Paul makes it clear that in Christ this is true.

Galatians 3:26–28 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

However, this is not so with “roles” God desires the man to be the leader in his household – remember this is not about who tells who what to do, this is about who God holds accountable for the condition of the family. It is clear from examples and statements in scripture that God desired the men to also be the spiritual leaders in society. This does not negate women being used as leaders; every good mother I have ever known is a great leader. The point is that the normal leader in Israel was a man, but what happens when none will step up? Here is the first characteristic that we learn concerning Deborah. She was what she was in spite of the circumstances. This is what a leader is! Notice – Deborah was doing what God had called her to do, even though others had given into sin and brought judgment on themselves. A true leader walks with God and that is what Deborah did. Despite what anyone else was doing she was sitting under her palm tree and helping those that came to her for counsel from the Lord. The important question that we should ask ourselves no matter our role or status in this world is - Am I taking responsibility for my own walk? We cannot allow the world around dictate our walk with our Lord – that pace should be set by Him and each individual!

Meditation Questions: How much do you concern yourself with what other people think about you? What kind of issues are you concerned about? What does that say? When you get ready to make a decision, how much does circumstance effect that? How much are your convictions effected by popular opinion? What does that show you? Where does the authority of scripture and the world’s opinion collide in your life? What do you do about that? What does that show you?