2011 July 29 - Morning Manna

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. And he said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, then shew me a sign that thou talkest with me. (Judges 6:11-17)

Today's Morsel:  Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, of the university of Alabama, said, "In a crisis, don't hide behind anybody or anything. They are going to find you anyway."  In other words, you can't hide from disaster, you are going to  have to deal with it.  Israel, because of their continual rejection of God, found themselves being defeated by their enemies.  And now they found themselves in  a fearful state.  We will always see our enemies as greater than we are when we don't obey God's Word.  Gideon wasn't chosen because of his might, but because God wanted to use His chosen people to show the enemies of God that his people were still mighty.  Israel was faced with a crisis; either get back to what they knew to do, or continue to let their enemies torment and imprison them.  God wanted to encouraged them that He had not forgotten His promise to their forefathers.  And so, He just found a man who was willing to do something to keep from dying.  Gideon was thrashing wheat.  And God wanted Gideon to know, that he could thrash his enemies the same way.  What crisis are you running from?  Are you hiding behind somebody or something to keep from facing it?  Sooner or later it is going to find you, so you might as well face it and allow God to defeat it for you.  In life, you're going to have your back up against the wall many times, so you might as well face it.

Sing: He's an on time God, yes He is! He's an on time God, yes He is! He may not come when you want Him, but He'll be there right on time, I tell you, He's an on time God, yes He is!