It's Time for US to Stand up and be Warriors
The biblical story of Gideon is one that offers us hope. Gideon was facing a tremendously difficult defeat at the hand of the Midianites. We know from the biblical account that he doubted God was even with him. In fact, when the angel showed up, he was threshing his wheat in the pit of a winepress, not up on a hilltop where this was usually done. Gideon was in essence hiding from reality, and all of a sudden an angel of God appeared before him and said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." (Judges 6:12)
Within the verse above are 5 of the most powerful words ever spoken to any human being. Those words are, “The Lord is with you.” Imagine, the impact that these 5 words can have on a person during their moments of doubt. Ultimately, Gideon lead the Israelites to a resounding victory over the numerically superior Midianites. Why was Gideon victorious? We could argue over military tactics, geographical advantages or any other military factor that we could think of, however in our minds it was those 5 words that spurred Gideon on to victory.
Undoubtedly, in today’s world both before and during our present hardships (COVID, the Cancel Culture, Attacks against Symbols of Faith, Riots, Disrespect for Police First Respondents, defunding of local government services and Economic Hardships etc.) many of us have doubted ourselves at one point or other. Imagine how different things would be if an angel of God appeared in front of us and spoke those same 5 words. It would make a huge difference to us all, both in how we act and how we speak with one another. We (the Cowtown Clergy) truly believe that God has spoken those words about each of us at the moment of our birth. For we were created in His image and thus He (God) must inherently trust us to carry on His image.
Thereby, it is now up to ourselves to bring those words to fruition by how we live our lives. Therefore, let us embrace the last two words of that verse, “mighty warrior” and become the greatest warriors in pursuit of fulfilling our potential and thereby bringing God’s 5 powerful words to life. For with trust in God, and with an inner moral guide and respect for those who live and defend God's light, we can be victorious over many of the hardships mentioned above and thus bring peace to society as a whole.