I was in the process of making a life-changing decision. Should I stay in my teaching and coaching positions or does God want me to enter a sales and management career fulltime.
Therefore, I was asking God for peace of mind and direction in making the right decision. One morning as I was in my Bible, praying, and preparing for a Sunday morning Bible study class. I was teaching from the book of Judges. A scripture in Judges chapter six jumped off the page at me.
The angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth." And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, "Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!" But the Lord said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die (Judges 6:20-23).
Gideon needed to be sure of God’s direction for his life and the future of Israel. In this particular section of scripture, it took three signs to convince him. When reading the whole chapter, we find that it took four signs to assure him. He was deciding to take hundreds of men into battle. It was not only his life that would be in danger but the lives of others and ultimately the safety of Israel.
Before going into battle, Gideon needed peace that can only come from God. God offered Him that peace as an act of grace. The key verses in this chapter are Judges 6:23-24 where it says, “But the Lord said to him, ‘Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.’ So, Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace.”
Romans 8:31-36 explains this act of grace and describes why the same blessing that was provided to Gideon is available to those who believe in Him and have made Jesus the Lord of their lives.
“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”
The peace offered to Gideon is expressed in three miracles. The first example of this miraculous intervention of the grace of God is found in the presence of God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. In Judges 6:20-22 we have the account of the Angel of the Lord, “With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, ‘Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!’"
(To Be Continued)
Fair, 63°