Shepastor: "Are You Hiding From the Enemy?"

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:11-12, NIV

Last week Shepastor focused upon God's direction to Gideon, "Go in the strength that you have." Today we'll consider Gideon's experience of"threshing wheat in the wine press..."

Gideon and his household were bearing the brunt of things that happened long before he was born. But what Gideon didn’t realize was that God was going to use him to break the cycle of the curses and bring about healing and deliverance. When the angel of the Lord called Gideon a “mighty warrior,” and told him that God would use him to deliver Israel from the hand of the enemy, Gideon immediately began to list all of the reasons why this couldn’t possibly be true…

My family is weak
I am the weakest of all!!!

According to the text, Gideon was hiding in a wine press, "threshing wheat."

At the time that the Lord appeared to him, Gideon was camouflaging his process of threshing wheat. Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the husks and straw to which it is attached. He was hiding as he worked to get the wheat off of the stalk because the Midianites were stealing all of their food, leaving many to starve. As Gideon was going about the business of trying to secure some food for his family, feeling depressed, feeling like nothing, feeling like all hope was lost, suddenly, the Lord appeared in the form of an Angel and called him a "mighty warrior!"

Gideon certainly must have said to himself, "Are you kidding me???" Don't you see me hiding from the enemy, trying to get Something good out of a bad situation...

Sometimes it feels like the enemy has taken so much that we go into hiding...trying to separate what we can use from what we need to throw away. We go into hiding, into our psychological “threshing floor…” trying to pull some good out of all of the bad things that have happened to us.

We go into hiding in our hearts, in our minds, in our spirits because we don't want others to know that we are struggling, that we are depressed, that we are worried, that we are broken. We wear the "mask" to camouflage the pain, the disappointment, the fear that others will see our perceived weakness. We go into hiding because we've already lost so much... the enemy has stripped us of so much that we are just trying to hold onto what little we feel we have left…our dignity, our self respect, our self worth, our mind!!! So we go down to the threshing floor trying to pull something good, anything good from the mess that we are in.

But God wants you to know that He sees you, He's coming for you, He’s got you, He's got a word for you… you are not weak, you are not defeated, you are not pitiful, you are not sorry…NO! You are a MIGHTY WARRIOR!!!

God wants you to know that God is not only going to deliver you, but God is going to use you to deliver others…your family, your children, your community…GREATER IS COMING!!!

Are you hiding from the enemy, fearful of being stripped of what little you believe you have left? The Lord is saying, It's time to rise from your threshing floor! Stop hiding! Stop calling yourself by the names given by the enemy!" Instead, call yourself by the name I call you, "Mighty Warrior!!!"

Come out of the winepress...come up from the threshing floor! MIGHTY WARRIOR, God is going to defeat the enemy and use you in the process!

Get ready...GREATER IS COMING!!!

Post a comment or send me an email at Shepastor1@hotmail.com

Until next Wednesday
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org