Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from the Book of Judges, Chapter 6 verse 13, “Gideon answered the angel of the Lord, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he found Gideon hiding in a wine press, trying to glean the grain. The Midianites oppressed Israel terribly for seven long years. They would appear, as soon as the harvest was ready, and destroy Israel’s harvest by chasing their animals to graze in the fields, followed by their army, to capture Israel’s cattle. The Angel greeted Gideon by saying, “The Lord is with you!” The angel did not answer Gideon’s question, but told him to not be afraid, for he must go in power and might. God will give the Midianites in his hand and give Israel a time of peaceful existence. Gideon prayed for signs from God to show him that it is truly God’s instruction for him to go up and fight the Midianites. God answered Gideon’s prayers and gave him the signs he asked for to confirm that he was the one God had chosen. Then God told Gideon to fight a mighty army with 300 men armed with trumpets and clay pitchers with torches inside. When Gideon’s army raised their trumpets and sounded the call, breaking the clay water pitchers, the enemy army fled in alarm. Gideon’s little army drove them out of the land, even unto the Jordan. It was not the mighty sound of the trumpet, or the crashing of the breaking clay that caused the Midianites to flee, but the power of God that caused the victory. Gideon and his army were encouraged to continue the chase and were in awe of God’s great miracle power, driving the professional army of more than one hundred thousand men, to flee in consternation. God does not answer our why questions directly. In most cases he brings an outcome far better than we could have imagined.
Jesus was busy teaching beside the lake, but due to the great multitude of people, he got into the boat, and taught them from the boat that was rowed deeper into the sea. It was easier for people to see Jesus, as he stood teaching them in the boat on the lake. He shared parables and stories with the crowd, telling them the parable of the sower and the seed, referring to the planting of the Word of God in the hearts of the listeners. Jesus’ disciples asked him about the deeper meaning of this parable and Jesus told them: “Be careful of what you are hearing, for the measure of thought and study you give to hearing the word of God, would be given to you who hear,” Mark 4 verse 24, (Amplified Bible). When God plants the seeds of his word in the hearts of humans, and they listen and act on this word, they are enjoying the Kingdom of God, growing in their hearts. After Jesus taught for a lengthy time during the day, he went down to rest in the hull, while they were sailing to the other side of the lake. A storm of hurricane proportions broke and the sailors were afraid. “Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him: Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4 verse 38, (NRSVB).
Jesus did care, but the storm was not a problem that alarmed him. He knew that he could control the elements. He called the sea and wind to be quiet, and they obeyed as if they were puppy dogs, listening to their master. The disciples, like the soldiers in the small army of Gideon, were amazed at the power of God. More and more, as Jesus journeyed with his disciples they realized that “He is the Son of God”. We need not be alarmed at the problems we are facing. God does care and is always working on our behalf. We need not fear, for he will increase our faith daily and save us mightily.
Father, we thank you that you calm the storms that threaten to overwhelm us, you bring us to a place of peace, and call the winds and waves to be quiet, and they listen, Amen.