Love Hard

     Judges 6:11-22 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a wine press to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” 
“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”
Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket^[a] of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree.
The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he cried out, “Oh, Sovereign Lord, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

     I see a reflection of the modern human's attitude towards God in this section of scripture. I have been burdened by the reality that God looks awful, to the non-Christian individual. And why wouldn't He? If you hear the stories of God's judgement and see His people judging other people, but never see the love wouldn't you be slightly disinclined at the notion of who you think God is?

     It seems that Gideon felt similarly about the Lord. When he is told, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you," his first reaction is skepticism. Asking why everything is happening, and wondering about the awesome power he grew up hearing stories about. He makes a point to say that he is the weakest in his family, and that his clan is the weakest in the whole tribe. He's an insecure boy who has had no reason to believe that this God character has any concern for him or his people. 

     So Gideon asks for proof, but not with defiance. He is longing for a truth to hold on to, something to have hope in. His whole world is broken and desolate, starving in a land where he and his family have to fight to stay alive. 

     I think this is the reflection of people today. They want something to have hope in. God is not the answer in their opinion because the people who are supposed to represent Him, don't paint a good picture. They hear stories like Gideon did, but they see a different reality where they live. Where is their proof? It took the creation of a relationship, an interaction with the Almighty to change Gideon's heart and mind. Christian's are supposed to be that relational bridge between, what we have come to call "the lost", and a loving God. The stories are nice, and they make you feel good, but a tangible representation of God's love is what gives that hope that we long for. 

     Am I loving people as hard as I can? If you're reading this, can you say that you love people enough? As I type this I can honestly say that I don't love as well as I could. But the way that Gideon's life changed makes me think about the power of encountering God, and how much of an impact he had once his life was dedicated to the Father. I don't want to miss the opportunity for God to use me in a way that can change one person that might be able to change the world, or lead a nation like Gideon did. 

     Love Hard