You Shall Not Die
.jpeg)
Flash back to 2013 when a group of us studied about Gideon.
My end of class gift to them was a torch!
The day before my husband's cardiac ablation we were both a bit anxious. We hadn't shared about the surgery, because we had so many ducks to get in a row at church for Palm Sunday and Easter. The night before we'd gathered acres of sticks which had blown down from the recent storms, so he could mow the lawn. We'd put fresh sheets on the bed to welcome us back home and I had cleaned out the refrigerator in case we had to stay more than the proposed one night at the hospital.
Before he left for work we snuggled a bit, went over the checklist for an event at church that day and shared in a time of prayer. As we began praying he said, "I just finished the passage in my read through the Bible outline and in Job 6 I read: You are safe. Do not fear. You shall not die. Is that a day before surgery gift or what? Truly, a peace came over each of us.
Hone in on verses 8-9 where the Lord's prophet outlines all that the Lord has been to Israel. Remember, remember, remember who our God is.
This time of year causes my heart to be sensitive to the parents of high school seniors, who will be moving away. They look at their teenage child and think "How will he or she survive on their own?" Remember the God who saw them through birth, through illness, through relational heart break, through loss, through exams, through driving alone and possibly through having you as a parent! Oh that we would start every day remembering who God is and that even if we die, those of us in Christ will live!
The Call of Gideon. 1The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, who therefore delivered them into the power of Midian for seven years, 2so that Midian held Israel subject... 6 Israel was reduced to utter poverty by Midian, and so the Israelites cried out to the Lord. (Again and again we see this cycle with Israel and if we are honest, in our own lives.)
7When Israel cried out to the Lord because of Midian, 8the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites who said to them: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I am the one who brought you up from Egypt; I brought you out of the house of slavery. 9I rescued you from the power of Egypt and all your oppressors. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10And I said to you: I, the Lord, am your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are dwelling. But you did not listen to me...
22Gideon, now aware that it had been the messenger of the Lord, said, “Alas, Lord God, that I have seen the messenger of the Lord face to face!”23The Lord answered him: You are safe. Do not fear. You shall not die. 24So Gideon built there an altar to the Lord and called it Yahweh-shalom. Judges chapter 6.
Open your Bibles and keep reading. This is such an exciting battle with 300 men equipped with jars, horns and torches!!! Whatever your battle is, the battle belongs to the Lord.
The Songs
“Death Has no Power over Me” Jeremy and Adrianne Camp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC01c85WVmU
“The Battle Belongs to the Lord” Phil Wickham
