Daily Devotional for May 27, 2010

May 27 ~ Judges 6:22-23
Gideon realized that he had seen one of the LORD's angels. "Oh!" he moaned. "Now I'm going to die." "Calm down!" the LORD told Gideon. "There's nothing to be afraid of. You're not going to die."

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

In Old Testament times, some people believed you would die if you saw an angel face-to-face. So when Gideon saw the angel, this is what he assumed. Have you ever heard someone say, “Something bad is going to happen – things are just going too well for me lately.” In other words, “I’ve seen God’s angel, so now I will die!” There are several problems with this statement. For one thing, this person is assuming there is a quota on how many things can go well in their life. The other is that we cannot truly experience God and His blessings – it’s sort of like the silly line from the movie “Top Gun” where Tom Cruise says, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Do we really believe that God has limits on how much – or how often – He will bless us, and if we exceed the limit, some sort of punishment must ensue?

I know… when we say this out loud it seems a little absurd, doesn’t it? But isn’t this exactly how so many of us live? The doctor says there is something suspicious on an x-ray or scan, and we immediately assume we are dying of some lethal disease. Instead of saying, “I’m blessed inside and out, and God will help me through any and all illnesses and injuries,” we wring our hands and decide we are going to die! When we get an e-mail from the boss asking to see us in his/her office, we immediately decide we have done something wrong. I hear countless students say, “I failed that test, I just know it!” Yet, when the tests are returned… the student has an A! We seem to be wired to be pessimistic and always expect the worst… to live in fear of retribution and trouble.

We need to turn this around. We need to find the positive in every situation. We need to realize that GOD has removed fear from our lives – all we must do is trust Him to handle these things for us… to speak His power over our fears and to believe for positive outcomes. I promise you, I am as guilty of all of this as anyone. But I am determined to do better – to honor God by recognizing His influence in my life… and His power to create blessings and good circumstances. Are you ready to do the same?

©2010 Debbie Robus