Your Not The Only One To Question

We have had five our six leaks in our home. About 6 or 7 years ago around this same time, we had a leak and had the main line repaired and rerouted. We were told then that we shouldn’t have any more leaks. Last Tuesday we both came home from work to water surrounding our bathroom sink. This being one of many leaks we have faced in the past 16 years we knew what to do, just hated to walk through it again. Oh and every leak we have had, has been in that bathroom. We spent two days with minimal water, only turning it on once a day for showers, and Thursday the plumber came, cracked open our slab and chiseled out the pipe. Leaving a nice size whole in the bathroom floor. We will need to fix that floor as well as our living area floor where the water seeped under the floor boards.

But our trouble wasn’t over yet. Friday morning my engine light in my car came on. I precariously drove to and from work, holding my breath the whole time hoping the light wouldn’t flash. I needed to teach a piano lesson Friday night after work so I opted to drive my husbands car to that, only to get rear ended on the way.

God was good, no serous damage to the vehicle, just some paint scratched off. But my back was sore from the jolt and I ended up being evaluated in the hospital that night. Thankfully it is just a lower back strain but I am still sore.

As the saying goes, when it rains it pours and granted all of this is small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. I know people going through cancer, lost loved ones, fighting covid, it all could be much worse. So why am I writing this? Because we are all familiar with these kinds of trials and we all know what it feels like to ask the question, Why God?

Gideon also asked God why. In Judges 6 verse 11 an Angel of the Lord came and visited Gideon. Gideon was beating wheat at a wine press instead of the threshing floor at the time. The Midianites had been destroying the Israelites camps taking their sheep and food. Gideon was hiding. He didn’t want the Midianites to get his grain so he went to the winepress to thresh it.

The angel came to Gideon and told him, “The Lord is with you, O brave man.” (Verse 12) Gideon was hiding, doing a cowardly act and the Angel of the Lord called him brave. God sees us as we can be not as we are sometimes. God sees our true purpose in us.

In verse 12 Gideon says what we all think when we are overwhelmed with our trials, He asks Why God?

“But Gideon said to him, (the angel) “Pleas my lord, if the Lord is with us, then why has all this happened to us?”

Why, why did my loved one die, why did I get cancer, why do I have to have surgery? For me it was why did the floor leak, why is my car broken, Why did the car accident happen? We all, even Gideon, ask why. Now earlier in the chapter the narrator gives us a why, he says its because Israel sinned against the Lord but that’s not always the reason why bad things happen. As far as we know Gideon did not sin against the Lord and yet he was facing all of these hardships the Midianites brought too.

Gideon also said what many of us think in these times of trouble. He said the angel, “But now the Lord has abandon us and put us into the hand of Midian.” (verse 13) Gideon felt abandon by God.

God never abandon’s you. Trials strengthen our faith. We should hold on to the hope and promises that God will never leave us. It’s easy to feel abandon by God. It’s easy to say that faith is fake and not going to help. But the reality is that is all God asks of you in times of trouble to stand strong in your faith.

The angel never answered Gideons why. It says instead the Lord himself answered him by saying “Go in this strength of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you? (verse 14)

God just said go, walk thru your trial, your battle, your heartache, with me. In verse 16 the Lord says “I will certainly be with you,…” God is always victorious. We can find how to become brave in that promise that we are not alone in our trials no matter how many pile up at one time, no matter how big or how small they are. Gideon was victorious over the Midainites because God gave him strength, a plan and only the men he needed, ( he divided his fighting soldiers down to 300 men), and confused the enemy during the battle. All along the battle was Gods and the victory was His. It’s like that in our lives. We are nothing but collateral damage to Satan. He will throw all he can at us to make us feel insignificant, defeated and hopeless. But we have a God of hope who understands the real battles we face. He fights for us when we don’t even know we are fighting.

I am thankful for a God who loves me enough to fight for me even when I have given up fighting. I hope this encourages someone today. It is honest and real to have feelings of hopelessness in any trial. Prayer is a powerful weapon against these feelings. Community brings us reminders of hope. If you are struggling today, as I am, and would like to leave a prayer request in the comments. I would be honored to pray for you.