The Lord is with you

In the midst of the struggle, in times of trial it's hard to see God.  In fact, when things get hard we often ask, 

"Where are you?  Don't you see what I'm going through? Don't you care?"

This morning, as I read a portion of the book of Judges I came to this passage,

6:11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”  13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

I love Gideon's honesty!  "If the Lord is with us then why has all this happened to us?"  Isn't that the question we ask when problems come?  And, without thinking about it, we assume that since we have difficult days the Lord must not be with us, must not be "on our side."

But let me ask a question-  If you never went through difficult days how would you ever see God's hand in your life?  Like a spoiled child you would expect everything to go your way and never really trust him, never have to ask, "where are you Lord?"

I have to admit that I do not like difficult days any more than anyone else, but as I read the Bible I see that God does his best work when all my other options are gone, when all I have is Him.

Do you realize God is with you even in the furnace, even in the boat as the waters wash over the side, even when all hope is gone...God is with you?

God is with me.  This morning that thought makes me aware of something vital for my faith- no matter what happens, no matter what I face I'm not alone.  

The God who loves me and made me is with me.  In the storm I can rest in him.