Ever-Increasing Splendor: Mighty Warrior

One of my very favorite moments from my very first mission trip happened in a remote village in Guatemala. The medical clinic was in full swing, but for some reason that day there were more healthy children than sick children. The kids were full of life and energy and curiosity. They weren’t used to seeing gringos, so they swarmed around us waiting for us to DO something. With the help of a great interpreter, we settled the kids down and got them to sit on the ground in a semi-orderly fashion. I stood on top of a makeshift “stage” (a few cinderblocks hastily arranged on the dirt) and told them one of the greatest bible stories of all time. It’s the story of a serious underdog overcoming staggering odds. Who doesn’t like THAT?! The kids were mesmerized, as the interpreter did her best to imitate my southern drawl. They cheered from a raw place deep inside them when God showed up in the story to help a people who were seemingly defenseless.

I kept having flashbacks of that moment as I sat in the bleachers at Flowery Branch High School last night. As the cheerleaders raised the traditional giant banner for the home team to burst through as they entered the field of battle, my mind began to review the story of Gideon.

After Moses led the Israelites (God’s chosen people) out of Egypt, where they had been enslaved for 400 years, a guy named Joshua led them into the Promised Land – a land the bible describes as “flowing with milk and honey.” Life was good. The Israelites seemed invincible – you could say they were in their “teenage years” as a people group. They were strong, the land was good, and life was great!

But life can turn on a dime.

The Israelites encountered an enemy stronger than them. The Midianites. They were a particularly repulsive and nasty enemy. They didn’t fight fair. They allowed hope to soar in the hearts of the Israelites, because they would fade into the background while the Israelites worked hard in the fields to grow their crops. Life almost seemed normal for a season. But just as the crops were ready to be harvested, the Midianites would swoop in with overpowering force and steal EVERYTHING. Crops ravaged. Hope destroyed. Land devastated. This happened over and over again. The Israelites were weary of the cycle. Giving up and NOT planting a crop would mean certain defeat. They would starve to death. But planting the crops began to seem futile because of the Midianites. Finally the Israelites prayed to their God.

Cancer and the Midianites have a lot in common. Both are nasty. Both are relentless. Both fight dirty.

But God has always delighted in showing up and showing off where man’s attempts fail. Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His power is made perfect in our weakness. As if to underscore that statement, God chose a very unconventional method to answer the prayer of the Israelites.

There was a guy named Gideon. He was just a guy trying to survive in a tough set of circumstances. In fact, when we first meet Gideon in the pages of scripture, he is literally hiding in a hole in the ground trying to grind enough wheat to make a few loaves of bread for his family. He had somehow managed to harvest some wheat before the Midianites swooped in to steal it all.

The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon – while he was in the bottom of a pit and said these words:

“The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior!” (Judges chapter 6)

Gideon had a pretty funny, and very human, response to that. “Really? Coulda fooled me! Well then Mr. hotshot Angel, tell me THIS...If the Lord IS with us, as you say, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about – you know, the Egyptian plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the battle of Jericho – ALL that. Where is God NOW when we need Him, Mr. Angel?”

Ever thought those thoughts when your circumstances weren’t the ones you’d choose? I surely have. “Lord, why has all this happened to us? We’re the good guys, remember?! We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we don’t cuss (much). We go to church every Sunday. We pay our taxes. We vote and even watch the stupid debates. We love our neighbor as ourselves. Aren’t you keeping score up there? Why did cancer hit OUR family – and why did it have to be BRAIN cancer? How about Big Toe cancer instead? Intellectually and spiritually, we know better than to ask those questions. But emotionally… we just go ahead and ask them anyway. It’s human. Thankfully, God is bigger than our silly questions.

I love what God said in reply to Gideon’s questions. “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Gideon (as paraphrased in the little-known and seldom-quoted, “Aunt Marybeth Translation” of the Bible): “The strength I HAVE? Are you crazy? Don’t you know I have a huge scar on my head that I now have to cover with a bandana because my hair is falling out? Did you FORGET that I am 22 radiation treatments deep into a 30 treatment regimen? How about chemo? You DO remember the chemo, right? – Exactly WHAT strength is it that you mean? And by the way, it’s pretty funny that you called me a ‘Mighty Warrior’ earlier… in case you haven’t noticed, I’m hiding in the bottom of a pit. Nothing warrior-like about that. You should think about submitting for a voluntary drug test, Mr. Angel of the Lord.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

Most of the time, we’d rather stay safely hidden – and our strong preference is for God to just go annihilate the enemy by Himself while we passively watch. But that’s not the God of the Bible. Over and over again, He required plain ole humans to go out and FIGHT… in the strength they had.

Keaton is #70

Remember that guy Nehemiah, who built the wall in the last post? He said something AWESOME in Nehemiah 8:10. He said, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord IS your strength.”

When we renew our minds, and we stop questioning God and instead trust Him to lead us through the valley – when we obediently fight and trust Him to supply what we lack, God SHOWS UP.

Gideon’s story is spread over a few short chapters in the book of Judges beginning in chapter 6. You should go read it. It’s got underdogs and villains and bloody battles and miracles. Better than any novel. How does the story end? Well, I’ll let you read it from a real translation of scripture, as opposed to the Aunt Marybeth version… but it ends something like the final scoreboard from last night's game:

Good Guys: 54 Bad Guys: 14

It was a great night of football. Keaton displayed the strength of the Lord. In the bleachers, we laughed, we cried, and we celebrated the fact that the Joy of The Lord IS our Strength. We watched a true Warrior do battle on a football field, when the enemy tried its best to send Keaton to a pit. (Based on the amount of chemo and radiation and active cancer cells in his body, the enemy figured Keaton would be home on the couch listening to the game on local radio.)

The enemy figured wrong. “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior!”

Enjoy these shots from the game. And keep praying for Keaton!