November's Devotional

This month Kelly shared some insights from a study written by Priscilla Shirer on Gideon.  

Judges 6:11-12

Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon beating out wheat in the winepress in order to save it from the Midianites.   When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

God comes to us in many different ways.  We more than likely will not see him as an angel or have an audible conversation with him but He is always with us.  

In this instance God appeared as an angel sitting under a tree while Gideon was threshing wheat for his family.  He was doing this mundane activity secretly in a winepress so not to be seen by the Midianites.  God sat and watched him do his work.  We are not sure how long he sat there but it suggests that the angel presented himself, making himself visible to Gideon.  No lightning strike accompanied the angel's appearance.  This angel most likely had the look of an ordinary man who had come on an ordinary day.  

God often comes to us in our boring days veiled in the most ordinary circumstances.  Ordinary is often the disguise of the divine.  The mundane, the routine, the commonplace are often the context in which He will reveal himself to us.  

Imagine Gideon hunched over a stack of wheat dedicated to this task as a farmhand.  His task was mundane and necessary for him as washing the dishes might be for you.  Think about some of the ordinary tasks we do and how we can notice God's goodness and provision in them:  

• Doing the dishes =  you have food to eat
• Laundry = you have clothes to wear
• Cleaning = you have a place to live
• Making dinner = He gave you a good harvest
• Homework = you're blessed with children & the ability to teach

Today's tasks, even the mundane of them, are often preparation for tomorrow's calling.  They carry clues to what He is leading us to learn and accomplish as we faithfully serve him.  

While it might seem comical to find spiritual principle in washing dishes or answering phones at work, God is teaching you faithfulness, diligence, and integrity through every task.