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Midian's Hand

 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”  (Judges 6:13) 

            As Christians, we're told we should never ask "Why?"  There's some wisdom to this, because often when we ask that question, we are standing in judgment of God. Sometimes, it's a good question, because it leads us back to God. Sometimes, we look back at some time in history as if it is a golden age. Gideon did. God did all this great stuff, he said, and now nothing. Israel had been suffering for the better part of a decade, and even before that, while things had been better, they weren't like the days of Moses or Joshua. The reason, of course, is that Israel was not keeping its part of the covenant.
            We're under a New Covenant now, one that doesn't promise temporal blessing for obedience. As we race toward the future, and as I seem to be moving even faster (and at the same time so very slowly - perhaps you've been there) toward my future, I hear people crying that God has abandoned us, or will unless we ___________. What God has promised us is that we will have tribulation, but that we should not fear even as we endure persecution, because He has overcome the world. No matter who is elected in November, God's plan will go forward.
           The truth is that while God put Israel into the hand of Midian, Midian's hand was in God's hand. God never gave up His plan for the nation even when He gave them into the hands of their enemies because of their disobedience. God will not give up his plan for the nations or for you, even if our nation or you or I go through difficult times. Those difficult times make warriors out of the least of the least.

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