IN A HIDEOUT

Judges 6:2 NLT The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 

When we were kids we used to make a hideout and pin a sign up saying no one could enter unless they knew the password. I think we must have read a lot of Enid Blyton Famous Five books, and it was good fun, but at some point we knew we had to leave the hideout and go and do whatever we had to do.😊

The Israelites were in hideouts and Gideon was down in a winepress hiding some grain when the angel of the Lord called him out and called him a mighty man of valour. We may be in a hideout ourselves, maybe hiding behind excuses or from facing situations, or hiding from what God is calling us to do because we don’t feel ready or qualified to do it.

Gideon had placed limitations on himself and he was hiding away, afraid of the enemy. He thought he couldn’t do anything about it, he saw himself as useless, so he was feeling hopeless. 

God wants us to come out of hiding, out of whatever limitations we’ve placed on ourselves, because He is telling us how He sees us - as sons and daughters of the King, as men and women of valour, of courage, because we’re anointed and equipped with His Holy Spirit. When God is on our side we are never useless or hopeless. He needs our light to shine for Him and He has a plan for each one of us to fulfil.

Gideon argued with God but in the end he did what he was instructed even when the odds were totally against him and he saw the Lord give him a miraculous deliverance for his people, but he had to do his part. How encouraging that is. 

It’s just possible someone’s deliverance is waiting on us coming out of our hideout today and doing what God asks of us, even if the odds are stacked against us, because our God is still a delivering God. Amen.😊

Photo by bady abbas on Unsplash