THE SURGE
  • SurgeHome
    • Good News
    • I'm New
    • Prayer
    • Community >
      • About Us
    • SurgeOnline
    • Contribute >
      • CoronaVirusRelief
    • Current Series
    • Message Archive
    • Surge Blog

The Surge Blog

my heart overflows with a good theme...
~Psalm 45:1a

Gideon: Stories of Sifted ~E Reiss

4/25/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I was so afraid.

For years we had been terrorized by the nation of Midian, of Amalek and the sons of the east. They were storming brigands and cruel bullying tyrants even down to the weakest one of them. Nothing we possessed was truly our own; nothing we worked for would last. There was no inheritance and no hope for anything better. We cried out to God without confidence or expectation. And He heard us and answered our prayer in a way that we never expected.

Sweat running down my back, I was working harder than I ever had in my life and my labor was doomed before it began. I was hiding in the winepress, sifting grain without wind or purpose. It was an entirely ridiculous and fruitless exercise. You needed an open area to separate the grain from the chaff in the process of threshing it. Instead, the closed area of the winepress choked me with dust and ill-fitting labor. But we had to remain hidden to keep anything at all. Our children were hungry, and we were doing the best we could. Separating the grain from the debris, unable to breathe I worked for handfuls of food and waited for strong men to come and take it all away.

There, in my frustration and failure, the angel came, speaking words of life and hope in my disbelief.

The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior!

There was a weight to his words, a divine sense of something more, and I struggled to accept it, even though I knew it was somehow the truth. I wasn't valiant. I was hiding. I wasn't a warrior, I was a refugee in my own home, destitute of any battle to fight, much less one to win. I wasn't a leader of men. I was alone. With the angel before me, I had a decision to make. 

Could this be the way out? Could this somehow be a path to freedom for all of us?

Coming out of myself, I asked for a sign and the angel answered with fire. And just like that, it was done. We won our freedom that day, before we ever gathered an army and before we ever experienced the series of miracles to come. I built an altar and named it Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is Peace). He had brought us victory and peace with His presence and purpose, before we ever picked up a sword. I knew it deeply, beyond what my eyes could see.

In spite of my spiritual resolution, I still somehow struggled with mental questions of doubt and fear both of which were powerful enough in their own ways. Asking for sign after sign for reassurance, the Lord patiently brought me from where I was to a place where courage became an option. It slowly became something I could dare to reach for, even if it wasn't yet attained. There was no valor in the days of putting out fleeces; they were just my stalling and lack of faith. He had spoken. I had heard and agreed. In my weakness and fear, it wasn't enough. I wanted to hear it again.

And again.

How many times do we ask for one more confirmation before the moment passes and we are truly lost? Will the angel shake his head in sorrow and eventually sit beneath another tree, to speak holy words to someone else, someone who will actually hear them?

I tore down the places of evil worship at night, afraid of my family's retaliation. I was dismayed at the dissolution of our army of men—those who felt exactly like I did. We went from32,000 to 10,000 to 300 in a rush of backwards momentum I secretly feared meant quick defeat. I began to think we were just a footnote in Israel's story of oppression for another generation.

His Voice was with us every step of the way. But I had so many questions. Undoubtedly, men were afraid; they were outnumbered five to one! Why would it matter how people took a drink when they were thirsty? I doubted my own sanity more than once, but we pressed on to see what the next step would bring.

God had promised us victory, but God also knew my heart.  I was still afraid.

Thinking back, going into the camp of the enemy was one more useless fleece. Even so, hearing the dream of the man and his sense of dread, it became one more sign that God was with us. With pitchers and torches and the clarion sound of trumpets, a handful of men brought a nation of locusts to its knees. Light, sound and escalating chaos turned the night into a cacophony of bloodshed. But none of it was our own. 

He had done it.  We were free. 

In spite of my reluctant courage and stumbling faith, we had won.

We have the chance for greatness in the evidence of our souls before any battle is set or finished.  We are shaped and completed internally before our plans ever become something that others can see.

There is a razor-sharp moment, dividing the infinite distance between hesitation and action, where the mind leaps forward in boldness or the opportunity passes and can never be retrieved. The point of real decision is in the heart before the words are spoken, before the action is taken ... before the stage is set or the results are known.

Don't be afraid. Your calling begins with the smallest grain of belief that things can be different. They can and they will.

Say yes. Build your altar on the simplicity of the moment before you, and know that God gives good gifts even to the weak. 

 "When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" (Judges 7:20).

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Our Writers:

    At The Surge we love doing things together... that includes writing a blog!  Here are a few of our main contributing authors:

    Greg Johnson

    Jesus++
    Me--

    Dwaine Darrah

    Our fearless leader, Dwaine is the lead pastor at The Surge.  His experience in counter terrorism with the CIA prepared him for ministry and he likes dogs and babies even more than E does.

    E

    E (short for Eric Reiss) is the Wingman at The Surge and likes dogs, music, Mexican food, his wife Karen and his little girl Evangeline... not necessarily in that order.

    Archives

    February 2023
    September 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    December 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012

    Categories

    All
    Beliefs
    Betrayal
    Buildings
    Caesar
    Career
    College
    Corn Flakes
    Decisions
    Denomination
    Fishing
    Holy
    Hope
    Jesus
    Kids
    Lord’s Supper
    Memorizing
    Missions
    Pan And Echo
    People
    Peter
    Psychology
    Respect
    Rock
    Rome
    Shadows
    Time Discernment

    RSS Feed

Picture

(571) 748-3359

​Small Groups
I'm New
​SurgeOnline
The Surge Community Church
Meeting Sunday Mornings at The State Theatre in Falls Church, 11:10am!
Meeting Sunday Evenings Online with SurgeOnline, 7:00pm!

  • SurgeHome
    • Good News
    • I'm New
    • Prayer
    • Community >
      • About Us
    • SurgeOnline
    • Contribute >
      • CoronaVirusRelief
    • Current Series
    • Message Archive
    • Surge Blog