The Lord is with me???
What proof is there that the Lord is with you? The evil and tribulations
which afflict our lives do not disprove the presence of God - rather, our
perseverance in the face of adversity is itself only possible because of the
presence of God!
The deeds of Gideon
are recounted in chapters 6-8 of the Book of Judges (it will take less than 5
minutes to read those chapters and thereby gain a much clearer picture of the
importance of the incident in today's first reading). Evidently, life was
really tough - Gideon had to beat out wheat secretly in the wine press so the
ruthless Mideonites wouldn't confiscate the little bit of food remaining for
his family.
Understandably, then, Gideon is skeptical when
an angel appears to him with the greeting, "The Lord is with you!"
Like you and me at times, Gideon is tempted to see disaster and the hardships
of life as "proof" that the Lord is NOT with him and his family.
Nonetheless, the angel's words have become a reality - the Lord IS with Gideon,
and insists, and inspires Gideon to make an act of faith - to prepare an offering
(from the tiny store of food remaining to Gideon!), which is convincingly
accepted by the Lord. Gideon will go on to seek even clearer signs that the
Lord is with him, and the Lord will again give those signs convincingly (see
6:36-40).
What proof is there that the Lord is with you?
The evil and tribulations which afflict our lives do not disprove the presence
of God - rather, our perseverance in the face of adversity is itself only
possible because of the presence of God! Gideon is completely aware of his
insignificance - he knows his victories can only be attributed to the presence
of God. So rather than resigning himself to being an eternal victim of
injustice, Gideon allows himself to become the "champion" God wants
to transform him into, a champion who will convincingly sing the Psalm that
truly the Lord brings justice and "peace to His people, and to His
faithful ones, and to those who put in Him their hope!"
As soon as you and I realize that "for
God, ALL things are possible," then we will stop being intimidated by
evil, and we will offer all we have (however little and insignificant that
might seem!) and allow ourselves to become champions of God's righteousness!