|
Not So Impossible!
by Patty Wysong I handed bananas to Vance and Ivan. "Here, slice these without opening the peel." "Excuse me? You want me to what? Vance squawked. "There's no way I do that!" I pointed him toward the table where there were a number of items. "Sure you can," I encouraged. "But how?" "Nope. No questions. You have two minutes. It can be done, just work at it." The two boys looked at each other then grabbed the plastic knives that were on the table. Two minutes later their bananas were butchered, but they still hadn't figured it out. "There's no way," they said, pushing their bananas away. I reached into my bag for another banana and instead of picking the plastic knife, I chose a safety pin that was sitting right beside it. With a few quick moves I sliced the banana then peeled it and offered the slices to the kids. Remember how the boys felt when I gave them the bananas? That was probably how Gideon felt when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him he was to lead Israel against the Midianites. 'You want me to do what? There's no way I can do that!' Gideon even made up excuses. 'I don't come from an important family and I'm the youngest one.' Hmmmmm. I've thought the same things quite often. But what did God say to Gideon? "Surely I will be with you." ~Judges 6:16 Wow! What a promise! And it's a promise we see throughout the Bible when God calls someone to do things that are seemingly impossible. Gideon hurried and brought out an offering for the angel of the Lord and arranged it on a rock, just as he was instructed. The angel of the Lord stretched out His staff, touched the offering, and fire jumped out of the rock, consuming the offering. Can you imagine Gideon's shock and surprise? What a display of God's power! If God could make fire jump out of a rock (and He did!) then surely God would keep His word and be with Gideon. That's the same promise God has given to us! He's told us what to do in Matthew 28:19-20. "Therefore go and make disciple of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Are you saying, "You want me to do what?" Are you making excuses? (I can't go to other countries? I'm just a kid?) Well, don't worry, the verse didn't end with just giving us our assignment, it goes on to say, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." God has given us the very same promise He gave to many great men in the Bible, He's promised to be with us. God wants us to start telling people about Him, and He's given us the way to do it. "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8 This was written to people who were living in Jerusalem at the time. God wants us to start telling others about Him, by starting with the people that live near us and that we go to school with! Now that's something all of us can do! And remember God's promise to Gideon and to us as we do the work He's given us: "Surely I will be with you." ~Judges 6:16 The account of Gideon's assignment is found in Judges 6:11-24. Patty Wysong is a Christian wife and homeschool mom of 5 who is passionate about wrapping lessons in pretty packages that will point others to God. Blog: http://pattywysong.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |