Tag Archives: Midianites

Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – Good Despite the Bad

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Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years. —Judges 6:1

Can God ever use a nonbelieving nation to overtake a believing nation as a form of punishment? The answer is yes. We should never think that we could not be overtaken by another nation if we continue to thumb our noses at God, persist in breaking His laws left and right, and insist on going out of our way to remove Him from our culture in every way. A chapter in Israel’s history should stand as a warning to us today.

As Judges 6 opens, we see the Israelites living under the power of the Midianites. This was a result of God’s disciplining them because of their disobedience. Interestingly, the Midianites were the first in history to domesticate the camel, which gave them a huge advantage militarily. Imagine being an Israelite who has engaged solely in battles of hand-to-hand combat when suddenly your enemy comes riding over the hills on camels. That is what the Israelites were dealing with.

Then there was the Midianites’ invasion of the land. They would sweep in on their camels, destroy the Israelites’ crops, and ravage their land. Israel was in despair, so they cried out to God for His help and deliverance. The Lord decided to answer their prayers through the most unexpected person possible, a man named Gideon.

Many times in life when things aren’t going well, it is because of bad decisions we’ve made. We disobey the Lord, and then we have the audacity to blame Him for the way things turn out. That is essentially what happened to Israel. They were wondering why things had turned out the way they did. But they brought it on themselves.

The good news is that even when we have made mistakes, God can intervene and bring redemption. God can bring good despite the bad.

Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Handling Our Anxieties

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Charles Stanley

Matthew 11:25-30

Gideon was a man who experienced great anxiety. Convinced God had abandoned the Israelites, He had to thresh grain in a winepress to keep it hidden from his enemies, the Midianites. He believed that his family was one of the weakest and that he himself was one of the least of men.

God then called Gideon—who in no way regarded himself as a man of strong capability—to lead the fight against the Midianites. Imagine his stress! But he obeyed and gathered his men, only to have the Lord send most of them home before the battle. Though this turn of events would give anyone anxiety, Israel was victorious because it was the Lord who won the battle. In the process, Gideon learned just how powerful and personal his God was (Judg. 6-7).

As Gideon discovered, knowing God intimately is one of the keys to dealing with worry. Those who handle anxiety well—inwardly and outwardly—know the Lord in a deeply personal way. They are the ones who calmly proceed while others are drowning in stress. When asked how they do it, they usually will respond, “Read the Word. Pray. Trust God.” These simple statements point to a way of life rather than a method. That way of life is centered on Jesus Christ and is spent learning to know Him in His fullness.

Man’s methods for handling anxiety serve only to distract or numb us from stress. God’s way is to reveal who He is through the Holy Spirit’s teaching and, in the process, replace our fretfulness with His peace.