Entitlement and Wrong Expectations

Synopsis     Judges 6:13-21     6/14/2018

An angel of the Lord visited Gideon. As they conversed, Gideon questioned the angel concerning God’s desire for Israel in the light of the Midianite oppression.

God responded through the angel by tasking Gideon to save the Israelite nation. God’s angel didn’t answer the question. Instead, he just gave an outrageous command. Gideon was incredulous and wondered how he, of all people, could do this because he considered himself insignificant. But God committed to being with Gideon and empowering him to succeed.

Gideon responded that he wanted a sign and then offered a sacrifice meal. He delivered the meal to the angel. The offering was consumed by a mysterious fire and then the messenger disappeared. And Gideon believed.

Entitlement and Wrong Expectations

Gideon was dubious with the angel of the Lord. He was aware of Israel’s history. But he couldn’t reconcile how the God who had saved Israel out of the slavery of Egypt would turn-around and allow the Midianites to oppress them.

In the end, Gideon was incapable of correctly interpreting his circumstances. He felt that God had let the people down and he doubted God’s intentions. Only when he began to see things from God’s perspective did his understanding and confidence grow.

Every Man’s Way is Right In His Own Eyes

How many times have I found myself muddling through – just getting by. My tendency is to think that things should be easier than the way they often work out. But, it rarely occurs to me to think that maybe something I’m doing could be contributing to my challenges.

I’m not really aware that I’ve done anything wrong so I’m generally pretty confident that I am right. And if I haven’t done anything explicitly wrong, then the problem is clearly someone else’s. So, when things get tough it’s easy for me to cast blame on whoever seems a likely candidate. Then it’s almost natural to slip into the comfortable role of victim.

The breakout from this pattern of thinking comes when I drop my own desires and my own agenda and look at the situation from God’s perspective. He’s sovereign God; the master of each and every situation. And all of the sudden, my experience of value changes and the motivation follows suite. Suddenly I no longer ask, “What’s in it for me”, and begin to say,

“I think God wants me to respond to what’s given in this way”

He said to them in reply, “[In the evening you say, ‘Tomorrow will be fair, for the sky is red’; and, in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to judge the appearance of the sky, but you cannot judge the signs of the times.] Matt 16:2-3