Gideon struggled with this new role and sought for multiple signs to give him confidence to move forward. The Lord on his part gave him plenty of help.
This event changed Gideons future life. He lead Israel to a miraculous victory over the Midianites, and more importantly reattached them to their God. They in gratitude wanted him for their King, he refused but still had the wealth and influence attached to it. He became the most powerful man in Israel.
In a Church lead by inspiration we are fortunate to have plenty of current examples of this, a new Bishop maybe a recent member with little or no experience, and feel very much like Gideon.
But like Jephthat's daughter some life changing callings are not done over the pulpit, they are not revered and are certainly not wanted.
It would be a very interesting sacrament meeting where a Bishop would invite a member to stand and announce 'Brother ........ has been called to have cancer, would you sustain him and help his family in this demanding endevour', 'Sister ........... has this week been called to be a widow, will you raise your hand in support'.
Are these any less callings? They are often unexpected, outside our comfort zone, a painful learning curve and a wonderful opportunity to work really close to the Lord. All the hallmarks of Gods hand. And if we looked at these challenging events as callings and acknowledged them as such would we dispel much of the fear we associated with them?
Losing a job, having an accident, dissolution of marriage, supporting an aged parent..... Could we see the hand of the Lord in all our life challenges? Would we have the faith to not 'bewail our circumstance' or at least as Gideon seek confirmation of His love and miraculous path forward toward physical, emotional and most importantly spiritual deliverance?
Could we then become national or local heros, leading others to compassion not otherwise in their path? Consider this woman Natalie Murphy. Average, unassuming, called on to endure something overwhelming, called on to be amazing! Here is her story its raw, its irreverent, its inspiring, its real. Lifes callings are just that!
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| Gideon leads his 300 men to victory. |
After reading the attached article I began thinking how incredibly true this is. People receive callings everyday. They can come in simple packed ages like being a strong friend to someone who needs it, teaching for church, or even like the article battling cancer. I keep thinking how it makes me see that we should be thankful for theses callings, good or bad. The opportunity Gideon received blessed him in so many ways, as do the opportunitys we receive. Thank you Brother Cherian for posting this blog, I really would not have gotten this out of just reading the chapters for my self.
ReplyDeleteI think we very much could see the Lords hand play a role in situations like that. Where someone loses a job I feel that if someone is paying their tithing and praying the Lord would take care of them. I am someone who believes that a lot of the situations that happen are for a reason and this is certainly the case with Gideon as well. I feel that the Lord knew Gideon's potential and that he wanted to push him to be the best person he could be. Perhaps if Gideon was offered the thrown before fighting the battle and receive the calling of leading the army he would have accepted it. But I think that because Gideon had to struggle with the calling he was given it made him stronger so when the people wanted to make him King he did something very noble by declining. Who knows if he would have accepted before the calling this is just a thought of possibilities of what could have happened. But I do feel that the Lord helps us and wants us to grow spiritually when we receive a calling. I would like to say that most callings are specific to help us even though at the time they seem only a pain, the Lord knows what is best. What matters most is what we do with the opportunities that we are given and Gideon is a perfect example of someone that did what the Lord asked of him and was blessed for it. Maybe the biggest blessing of all for Gideon was that he realized his potential because at first he did feel inadequate but sometimes being awakened of our potential can be an amazing thing. I know for me that would be the biggest reward.
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