Encountering the Supernatural; Too Busy

July 25

Read: Judges 6:11-24

Encountering the Supernatural; Too Busy

“…show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” (v.17,18)

There are many things which hinder our ability to recognize the Lord and his supernatural work in our lives and all around us. In fact, it is quite common in the scriptures that the Lord himself - manifest as “the angel of the Lord” - speaks to someone and they do not even realize it is him until afterwards or deep into the conversation. Hebrews 13:2 even says that, “some have entertained angels unawares.” Is it possible that the Lord is speaking to you and you are missing it? Could it be that you are interacting with the supernatural / spiritual realm and yet you are “unawares” as Hebrews puts it? What are the things that hinder your ability to hear the Lord and experience the supernatural unfolding of the Kingdom of God?

When we are too busy “taking matters into our own hands” and scrambling for a solution to our problems by our own strength we have a hard time receiving the Lord’s words to us. Notice Gideon here: “Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.” (v.11) Gideon was living in fear with a deep sense of desperation and scarcity. In the face of this fear, he resorts to hiding in the corner trying to eek out some wheat in a wine press. (which doesn’t work that well anyways.) In short - the bullies (the Midianites) had taken his lunch and he was hiding in the corner trying to eat his pudding cup. This is when the Lord shows up and speaks to Gideon. The irony is that in our most desperate times the Lord often speaks supernaturally to us and yet it can be the hardest time for us to hear or receive his words. We see this in Gideon:

“And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (v.12,13)

Gideon does not realize it is the LORD speaking to him. He has resigned himself to being “given into the hand of Midian”. He is too busy trying to mash his wheat in secret to be bothered with the truth that the LORD is with him and speaking to him directly as the Angel of the Lord. As far as Gideon is concerned, the fact that there is any trial at all means that God must have abandoned his people. He had resigned himself to trying to solve his problem in fear and desperation - hiding in the winepress - doing what he could do in his OWN strength.

When we presume God has abandoned us, left us, and that we are “on our own”, then we will not know it is him speaking to us nor will we receive his words as truth. When we become pre-occupied with thrashing out our own solution, we will never be in a place to hear the Lord. When we catch ourselves thinking in terms of scarcity and as if things cannot change, we must turn quickly to the Lord. Chances are, he is already talking to us and we just didn’t recognize it as him… or we were unwilling to receive it. What “winepress” are you trying to work “wheat” out of? What “busy-ness” are you hiding in trying to solve your own problems? What would it look like to presume the LORD IS speaking with you… right now… and you just have not recognized it was him? Is it possible that he has been there all along and you didn’t believe his words? The good news is that the Lord never leaves us in the dark! Sooner or later the veil is lifted… our eyes are opened. Look at what Gideon says: “show me a sign that it is you who speak with me..” God will show you that it is him who speaks with you. God is willing to give you a sign it is him, all you have to do is ASK. Slow down and ASK the Lord what he has been saying to you. Ask him to reveal the words he has spoken to you… and IS speaking to you. Don’t be afraid to ask for a sign. Notice that Gideon had to stop what he was doing (hiding in the winepress) and go prepare a meal to bring back to the Angel of the Lord to eat with him. Maybe it is time to take a break from your own efforts, prepare a meal, and sit down with the LORD to have your eyes opened to how he has been with you all along! Love you guys. - JDP