How Could You?

“Gideon said… ‘O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles…But now the LORD has forsaken us…’” Judges 6:13.

I love the story of Gideon which reminds me of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz. There is a scene where the Lion approaches the wizard and tries to stand up to him. As soon as the Wizard speaks, He runs to the back of the foursome terrified. It certainly is easy to be brave in a group but when called out individually we just might also run for cover. Gideon began his encounter with the Angel of the Lord by demanding answers from God's messenger. He certainly appeared to be brave in his accusatory words, but God’s voice was stronger and louder. ‘Have I not sent you?’ Judges 6:14b. What is interesting about this exchange is that God never answered His questions. God didn’t begin naming the miracles that Gideon’s family had received. God never tried to defend His actions to Gideon. He simply reminded Him that Gideon was called by God to go. And just like Gideon, we are called to go...to go to a new way of living...to go into tomorrow without dragging the casualties of yesterday...to go and walk out the will of God.

One of the things that I love about this exchange is that it gives voice to our own heart cries. ‘Why did my loved one have to go to Heaven at this time?’ ‘Where were you when...?’ ‘How could you...?’ ‘Why have you forsaken me and my dreams?’ These are questions that if we are honest have most likely entered our thoughts even if they never came off our lips. I love that God allows our honest hearts to cry because it builds a foundation of His faithfulness wherein God reveals Himself in the pain just as much as in the celebrations. When we cry out God will refocus our hearts and minds on moving forward if we have an open spirit. He knows that the only way to move forward in our pain is to gently nudge us to move forward to where He is sending us. While we want to focus on the here and now, He wants our focus on the ‘up ahead.’ Ministries are born in the ‘up ahead’. Prodigals return in the ‘up ahead.’ Marriages are healed in the ‘up ahead.’ We get to be reunited forever with our loved ones in the ‘up ahead.’

Whatever we face in this tough life Gideon gives us permission, even in our weakness, to question God and search for answers from God. But his story also shows us the correct response to God when there are no explanations. ‘O my Lord, how can I…Indeed my clan is the weakness…, and I am the least…’ Judges 6:15. Gideon replaced his ‘how could you?’ with ‘how can I?’ And in God’s great love He reminded Gideon of the same thing that He promises you and me.

“And the LORD said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat…’” Judges 6:16.