I hear talk from those who want to be in 'God’s army', but only the desperate, the focused, the souls who are distressed at their circumstances and that of their nation will have the passion and stamina to see the fight through to the end.
These are they who are not afraid to lose their reputations (and probably have already lost them anyway), and indeed have nothing to lose by serving God.
As an old proverb says, ‘Beware the man who has nothing to lose’. The most dangerous man is the one who has no reputation to defend, no home or treasure in this world which he is forever grasping, and nobody to have to prove himself to except God.
Here is a man focused, envisioned, clear-headed and unafraid. He is not seeking to make anyone happy, to get himself a stage, or to make himself a name. He simply serves the King and carries out his orders. The secret to his success is unquestioning and prompt obedience. Here indeed is the finest of all soldiers.
Most men these days are tip-toeing around trying to maintain the equilibrium and the peace, and trying not to cause offence to anyone. They are experts at dodging out of ‘tricky’ situations and have gotten used to hiding when trouble is in the air. No different to Gideon really. If it is not the wife or girlfriend they are hiding from, then it is the challenge to come away from the shadows and be bold and dare to contend for the truth. Instead of this, they just trying to ‘blend in’ and look the same as everyone else.
We have become so versed in ‘tolerance’ and 'political correctness' that we have forgotten that the Gospel and work of God is an offence to those who do not believe, and that wherever truth comes, it causes people to be offended. (Isaiah 8:14; 1Peter 2:8)
Gideon’s call of God would lead him to destroy his father’s idol and devilish place of worship. It would antagonize his own people against him and place his life in peril. Before he could raise an army, he must first of all destroy the false beliefs and wicked practices of his own family. If they chose not to side with him, then let it be so, but he can only do what God tells him to do. If they will not join with him or follow him, then let them stay where they are. He is going on a mission. No turning back and no sentimental or ‘slushy’ talk will divert him from his path.
Obedience is better than sacrifice
When we ‘put up with things’ just to keep someone else happy, when we know it is not the best or right thing for us, then we end up sacrificing our true calling for something less than God’s purpose for our lives.
Often it is the ‘fear of offending’ that keeps us from doing what we know to be right. Our dread of the other person’s reactions to our personal choices leaves us unable to perform our duty in the way that we know we should. Subsequently, we spend all of our efforts in trying to maintain a ‘balance’ on things, juggling with our conscience, but compromising our deepest convictions.
To obey is a far better solution, and in our obedience we need to exercise trust in God that he will undertake for us in all things, even the ‘fall-out’ that may occur when we choose to follow his directives.
Surely, if God tells us to do something or to stop something, then we simply have to obey, and not question his wisdom. If we spend more time worrying about the side effects of such actions than doing what is right, we will end up disobeying God and fearing a person more than honouring the Lord. If this is where you find yourself today, then you have not come to a place of fully trusting God with everything, and still think that you can work it out better than he can.
‘To obey [God] is better than sacrifice.’ (2Samuel 15:22)
If we find ourselves failing God because we feel obliged to please another party, then we have become the servant of another mortal. The Bible says: ‘You are bought with a price; do not be the servants [slaves] of men [or women]. (1Corinthians 7:23)
If you are a slave of another, if you do not have the freedom to do the things that God calls you to, then you are not able to come to war and fight ‘the battles of the Lord’. (1Samuel 25:28).
Get Free! ‘Loose yourself from the bands (the shackles) that are around your neck’. (Isaiah 52:2)
Get a file and begin to cut off the chains of slavery and manipulation that have held you back from your priestly and kingly office for all these lost years. (Revelation 1:6)
Your time for rising has come. The chains of opposition and persecution, the shackles of being somebody else’s servant and slave must be forced apart and opened so that you might enter into the promises and walk the corridors of spiritual government that oversees this nation.
Breaking off the ball and chain that the devil attached to your life (however many years ago), will possibly take a little more effort than just shouting, "In the name of Jesus". It may need planning, strategizing and a big spiritual angle grinder to cut through it and snap its hold. It will definitely take a momentous personal decision and some gritty determination to break free and stay free.
Loose yourself from the chains that you are wearing. You do not need a ‘Christian counsellor’ or a psychiatrist to help you with this. They never put the chains on you and they cannot take them off you. It was your decision to live as you do and to submit to someone else’s dictates over your life. It was your will that succumbed to the enemy and accepted the spiritual handcuffs that would keep your hands bound from serving God to your fullest.
If you want to be free, then break off the things that drag you around, which steal all of your time, that intimidate you and hold you fast to a powerless and ineffective existence, rather than running hard and fast after God and his call upon your life.
There are no short cuts to liberty. If you want freedom, then get rid of the things that make you a slave, and stop wearing the garments of a prisoner.
Pilgrim Warrior
