His Purpose Nonetheless

Scripture: Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. Judges 4:8-9

Observation: Barak has been called to fight Sisera and relieve Israel from his tyranny. However, Barak doubts the word of God delivered by Deborah - he says he will only go if she goes. As a result, God will not allow Barak to be the hero of the victory, and will instead bestow that honor upon a foreign woman. In other words, God won't punish Barak, and he won't change his purpose in relieving Israel, he will just work his purposes out in some other manner due to Barak's lack of faith.

Application: When God wishes to act, he does NOT need knowledge or ability of others, as his own knowledge and wisdom and strength are so much greater than ours. Instead, all he needs is faith. If he finds that faith anywhere, he can work out his purpose.

This is important for me to remember when I am wondering how I can best serve God. When doing that, I often think about what I can do - what skills and ability could I bring to a task. God would rather have me just bring my faith, and he will then hand me the work to be done. Now, it might not be something I WANT to do, or that I feel particularly capable of doing ... I doubt Jael had tremendous experience about driving a tent peg through a sleeping man's head ... but this is how God works. He looks for the person with faith, and then gives them his work to be done, and provides them with the strength, courage, words, skills, and opportunity to do his work.

So this is what I must do when I want to serve God: Have faith. I do not need to go find a task that fits my abilities, God will bring his work to me.

Prayer: Lord, I know of many of the things to be done in your church and for your kingdom. However, let me today just have faith. Let me simply abide in faith of your wisdom and love, and I am confident that what you then need done will become manifestly known. Amen.