March on, my soul; be strong!

So I started reading the book of Judges the other day. Kevin had been talking about Judges over the last few months because he had used it in a series he was preaching with the youth. Every conversation about the book left me curious to read it again. So I picked it up a few mornings ago and decided to start my day with Judges.

The first day I read about fighting. The second day I read about fighting. The third day I read about fighting. I see a pattern developing here. I am not planning any huge battles. I highly doubt God is calling me to lead a large number of people into combat any time soon.

But the first day I found myself thinking about how God calls us to be faithful and obedient. And when we aren't he continues to come to our aide when we call.

The second day I got caught on the line from Deborah's song "March on, my soul; be strong!"(5:21). She's not kidding. This woman is strong. I don't know her physical strength but come on...she was a judge for Israel. The wisdom she possessed is incredible. I want to be that strong!

Today I read about Gideon. He was threshing grain in a wine press so that it wouldn't be stolen from him by the Midianites. An angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." I'm sorry but this guy is threshing grain. He's hiding it so that the Midianites do take it from him. What kind of mighty warrior is he really?

I don't know what Gideon was feeling when he heard those words from the angel. I know if it were me I'd have had those crazy butterfly kind of feelings in my stomach. The kind that can be confused with fear and excitement. This was God calling. And if I was called something like "mighty warrior" I'd be feeling pretty strong. Sometimes all it takes is for people you trust or respect to give you a title or word of confidence.

March on, my soul; be strong!