July 7, 2024; Day 1 of Week 15

Daily Dose of Hope

July 7, 2024

Day 1 of Week 15

Scripture:  Judges 7-8; Luke 22

Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope!  I hope you enjoyed having different hosts during the month of June.  I want to extend a big thank you to Pastor Roberto, Pastor Lavetta, and Brianna for helping while I was on vacation.  I do believe there was a little confusion last week and I apologize for that.  I am now back for the daily and look forward to starting week 15!  Let’s get right into our Scripture for today. 

Our Old Testament reading for today comes from the book of Judges, when people did what was right in their own eyes.  Just FYI…it never works out well when people do what’s right in their own eyes because we are inherently sinful.  We need a standard, we need guidance, we need God.  Just a reminder, in Judges there is a repetitive cycle.  The people rebel, engage in all kinds of wicked idolatry, and break covenant with God.  In turn, God lifts his hand of protection and allows his people to be conquered by a pagan nation.  This lasts awhile until the people can no longer stand the oppression and they cry out for God’s help.  God sends a judge, who conquers the pagan nation and the people live in peace for the duration of that judge’s life.  When the judge passes, the cycle begins again.  It happened with Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar in Judges 3, it happened with Deborah in Judges 4. 

Now it’s Gideon’s turn.  After a period of lawlessness, idolatry, and general wickedness, God has allowed the Midianites to overtake the Hebrew people.  The Midianites are incredibly cruel and oppressive.  They destroy the Israeli crops and their livestock.  The people are hungry and weak so they cry out to God for help. This time, God calls Gideon to be a judge.  We read his call story last week.  If you missed it, be sure to review Judges chapter 6, as it is yet another example of how God doesn’t necessarily call the equipped but rather equips those he calls. 

Okay, let’s move on to our chapters for today.  Gideon starts with roughly thirty-two thousand troops from four different tribes.  That may seem like a lot to us but it was really a drop in the bucket compared to the massive Midianite army.  And yet, God says it’s too many men.  So God gives instructions to thin out the troops, first by telling those who are scared of the fight to go home.  Then, he separates the men by how they drink water from a stream.  God knew his people well–with a large army, they would take the credit for the victory.  By the time Gideon finished with God’s instructions, only three hundred Israelites remained to fight.  Now, it seems almost like a suicide mission against the Midianites EXCEPT the God of the universe is on their side.  There is no earthly fighting force that can even get close to God’s power.  And there would be no question–the victory totally and completely belonged to the Lord.  How many people need to be reminded today that there is no earthly force greater than our God?

Gideon conquers the Midianites.  But what’s a little perplexing is the end of chapter 8.  Gideon takes a portion of the bounty and makes an ephod made of gold.  The Israelites end up worshiping the ephod!  One might think that Gideon would know better, that he would know the weaknesses of his own people.  Thus, as soon as Gideon dies, the Israelites fall back into the pattern of idolatry.  And the cycle begins again.  More on this tomorrow.

Let’s move onto Luke, chapter 22.  This is a long chapter with a lot of important pieces.  It starts with Judas agreeing to betray Jesus.  Of course, Judas’ heart had begun to harden long ago.  Betrayal doesn’t happen suddenly; it’s a slow process of allowing bitterness, anger, and pain to filter into our heart until our decisions are guided by those negative emotions.  As we know, this doesn’t end well for Judas.

Next, we have the beautiful passage about the Last Supper.  Jesus takes the Passover meal, which these faithful Jewish men would have celebrated every single year of their life and turns it upside down.  It’s now a sign of Jesus’ death and the new covenant.  Of course, they don’t understand anything at this point.  I don’t blame them for being so confused.  I’m sure I would be too. 

There is also the prayer in the garden.  I want us to really spend some time here with Jesus on the Mount of Olives.  Jesus knows what is going to happen and he is distressed.  He says in verse 42, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”  Jesus knows the inevitable outcome. He has spoken to his disciples about it.  He knows he is about to face something really horrific.  And yet, rather than running from the inevitable future or whining about it or worrying about it, he totally surrenders himself to God.  He keeps on keeping on, working toward his purpose.  Over and over again, Jesus is defiant in the face of death because he knows that he is secure in the hands of his Father.  He knows that he will be held by the kind of power that never fails, never gives up, that always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 

I read about the kind of trust and surrender that Jesus had and I sometimes feel like a total failure.  I want to give it over to God.  I truly believe that I am secure in the hands of the Father.  I want to cast my cares upon him and not take them back.  It's not like I enjoy carrying my burdens alone.  It is not like I want to add weight to my cross.  I would love nothing more than to cast all my cares on Him and move on with my day; anxiety free, cappuccino in hand, happy and free and fearless in the face of whatever happens, knowing that Jesus is present and real and holding me.  And yet, there is always something that trips me up, always something that gets me running back to the foot of the cross to pick up a few items I had laid down, because I mean...what if He doesn't take care of things in the way that I asked?  If you ask me, this whole surrender thing, while great in theory, is downright scary and hard.  I’m hoping all of us, after reading today’s chapter, will really reflect and pray about Jesus’ surrender.

Some thoughts on surrender.  Surrender is not the same as compliance.  Compliance, which many of us are quite good at, is about following rules and regulations.  Surrender is about laying it at the foot of Jesus and trusting him with our fears, our worries, our loved ones, our past, our present, our future.  What is it, right now, that you know God is calling you to lay at the cross, to trust him with?  What worry, burden, or fear do you need to be freed from?  Furthermore, surrender is not a one and done deal.  When it comes to my children (who I probably spend the most time worrying about), I lay them down at the foot of the cross every single day.  It's a daily choice.  Jesus made a daily choice of surrender.  

Surrender, trust, and presence go hand in hand.  As we grow closer to Jesus, become more aware of his presence, trust him more, then surrender becomes a little bit easier.  Not easy, but easier.

I want to close today’s Daily Dose of Hope a little differently than usual. I’m going to read The Prayer of Abandonment by Charles de Foucauld.  I find it powerful.  I’m going to read it slowly and I encourage you to repeat each line after me.

Father, I abandon myself into your hands.

Do with me what you will.

Whatever you may do, I thank you.

I am ready for all.

I accept all.

Let only Your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart,

For I love you, Lord, and so need to give myself,

To surrender myself into your Hands,

Without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for you are my Father.

Amen.

I know I spent a lot of time today on surrender.  The chapter goes on with Jesus’ arrest and the soldiers mocking him.  Tomorrow, we will talk about this more.  We are heading to his crucifixion.  Get ready.

Blessings,

Pastor Vicki