-- Sunday, 7/18/10 -- LEANING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION -- Judges 4:4-8
J.R. & Bonnie Ricks
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LEANING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION -- Judges 4:4-8 NIV
Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, "The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.' "
Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go."
So now Deborah was leading Israel. Deborah was a prophetess. She was also a very strong woman. She was strong spiritually… and she was a strong leader. On the other hand, Barak - the leader of Deborah's army - was a real wimp. For twenty years Israel had been too scared of Jabin's army and his general, Sisera, to do anything but cower in their wake. Now, God had used Deborah to get Israel's army organized. Problem was, even though Israel finally had a unified army of ten thousand soldiers, Jabin and Sisera still had 900 iron chariots and a huge army of their own. So, when Deborah told Barak to take the army over to Mount Tabor and wait for Sisera so Jabin's army could be defeated, Barak could only see with human eyes. And what he saw was what promised to be a disaster for Israel. Barak didn't trust his own ability to lead the army. Barak didn't trust God's ability to defeat his enemies for him. The only person he trusted was Deborah. So he said, "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." Now that's a brave man if you ever saw one, right?
I can just imagine Deborah throwing up her hands in exasperation. This man Barak was her five star general... her top military commander! And he was too scared to go into battle without Deborah. To give you a modern day equivalent – when we were in the heat of battle in the Middle East, can you imagine General Patreus saying he wasn't going to lead the troops unless President Bush went along with him? Now you have the picture. Barak trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.
How about you? When faced with a challenge, who do you trust more… yourself, your friends, your doctor, your teachers, your boss, your co-workers… or God? When everything in front of you looks impossible, even though God has told you that's the way He wants you to go, in which direction do you lean… toward what seems possible by human standards… or toward God's promise? Remember, there are many, many times in our lives that God asks us to step out on faith… and sometimes we must step out alone.
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