With God's help - you can!

It is probably safe to say that few will have heard of Eric Weisz! Born in Budapest to a Jewish Rabbi and his second wife, he was one of a family of seven (including a half-brother, the son of his father's first wife). The family emigrated to the USA in 1878, and his father served as the Rabbi of the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation, in Appleton, Wisconsin. The family name was changed to the German spelling of Weiss, and Eric became Ehrich. 

However, he is much better known as "The Great Houdini" - escapist par excellence! One of his claims was that he could be locked in any jail cell in the country, and set himself free within minutes! This claim he made good in every city he visited - except one! That day, something went wrong. He entered the cell in his street clothes and, as soon as the heavy, solid-metal, door clanged shut behind him, he removed from his belt a concealed piece of strong, but flexible, metal, and went to work on the lock. Soon, however, he realised that he wasn't getting anywhere. For thirty minutes he worked, without success. Then an hour passed. This was much longer than he usually took, and he began to stress out - but he still was unable to pick that lock!

Finally, after labouring for two hours, and feeling a total failure, he leaned against the door and, to his utter amazement, it swung open. It had never been locked in the first place!

How many times does something look impossible simply because we think that it is? However, many have discovered that, when they have focused their faith on the situation; removed the word "can't" from their vocabulary; and sought the help of Father God; the impossible becomes "do-able"!

When God called Gideon to deliver His people from the Midianites, he replied: "I don't have the right connections." (Judges 6:15). When He called Moses, he replied: "I'm not a gifted speaker." (Ex.4:10). When He called Jeremiah, he replied: "I'm too young." (Jer.1:6). To each one God said: "… fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand." (Is.41:10).

Of course, if we are to hear these words for ourselves, we must be certain that we are walking in His way, seeking to do His will, and open to His commands. When Paul assured his believing friends in Philippi: "I can do all things in Him Who strengthens me." (4:13), he was not suggesting that he could hold his breath for twenty minutes; run a mile in two minutes; or lift a ten-ton weight with just one hand! He was making the point that anything God told him to do could be done in the strength of the Lord.

So what is God saying to you, today? Perhaps it is simply the call that every disciple hears: "Follow Me"! If you do, you will not be called upon to do so in your own strength. He will be with you, to guide, and encourage, and uphold. You may take Him at His word! Will you do so?!

He will fight for us!

One of the major news stories of this past week has been the unanimous decision of the five judges of the UK Supreme Court, to vindicate Daniel and Amy McArthur, the Christian owners of the Asher Bakery in Northern Ireland, after a four-year legal battle in which the homosexual activist who had targeted the bakery - in a manner that could well have been described as entrapment - was supported, and funded, by the taxpayer! By the way, I suspect that the bakery is called the Asher Bakery on the basis of Gen.49:20. The aged patriarch, Israel (Jacob) is at the ends of his mortal life, and speaks over his sons. One of those sons was named Asher. "Asher’s food shall be rich, and he shall yield royal dainties." Perhaps someone can confirm (or refute) my suspicion!

Many of us, who have been praying for the McArthurs for all of those four years, are praising Almighty God for this decision. Many are also praising God for the release, also announced this week, of Pastor Andrew Brunson after more than two years in a Turkish prison, or under house arrest. Many of us continue to pray for Asia, the Pakistani mother whose appeal against the death sentence has finally been heard by the Supreme Court of that country, but who must now await their verdict.

However, it was the Asher Bakery case that made me think of the record of Gideon - especially the events recorded in the Book of the Judges, chapter 7. I encourage you to look up the story and read it for yourself. The part that I recalled is in verses 20 - 23: "... the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars, holding in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow; and they cried, “A sword for YHWH and for Gideon!” They stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the [Midian] army ran; they cried out and fled. When they blew the three hundred trumpets, YHWH set every man’s sword against his fellow and against all the army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah,as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian."

The point is, of course, that the Children of Israel were faced with a (humanly speaking) superior force - yet faith in YHWH, and obedience to His instructions (even although, on the surface, they seemed crazy!), brought them victory. This was the first thing that Daniel McArthur did - He gave the glory to God for the victory.

I am reminded of another story from the time of the Napoleonic Wars. The citizens of Feldkirch, in Austria, were effectively under siege. Napoleon's massive army was preparing to attack. French soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which is situated on the Austrian/Swiss/Lichtenstein border. A council of the citizens was hastily summoned to decide if they should try to defend themselves, or display the white flag of surrender. 

It happened to be Resurrection Day, and the people had gathered in the church building. The pastor arose and said, "Friends, we have been counting on our own strength and, apparently, that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord's resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us."

The Council accepted his plan, and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived, during the night, to defend the town. Before the worship service had ended, the French troops had broken camp and left!

You and I may be facing circumstances that threaten to crush us. Let us call out to the Lord; place our trust in Him; and depend on His almighty power. How He will respond is up to Him - but He will respond to the cries of His own people.

Broken things!

One of the many interesting characters in the Tanakh (what many people refer to as the Old Testament), is a man named Gideon.  You'll find the full record in the book of Judges 6-8, but the incident that has grabbed my attention is in Judges 7.  YHWH had whittled the army that Gideon had raised from some 32,000 fighting men to a mere 300!  These 300 were equipped, not with spears and swords, but with earthen jars that contained burning torches!

Right away, there is a picture of the true disciple of Jesus.  Writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul says: "... it is the God Who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' Who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us." (II Cor 4:6-7).   God the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, and provides us with the power that we need to live victorious Christian lives.  Sadly, too many of us go through life without allowing that power to flow through us, and touch others.

The answer is found in this record of the life of Gideon.  The torches were there, but victory only came when the jars were broken!  Then the light shone out, and the Midianites (the enemy) fled in consternation.  Those of us who are disciples of Jesus also need, often, to be broken in order that the light of the Gospel might shine through us.  We complain about adversity; about challenges; about difficult situations.  Yet the written Word makes it abundantly clear that it is tried and tested individuals whom God uses most frequently!

Believers are in the light, but all too often we do not let it shine out to others.  In the home group in which I have the privilege of teaching, we are working our way through John's first letter.  It is John who reminds us, in that letter that if "... we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin." (I John 1:7).  We might well add, "and others will see Him in us"!  We may have the light of Almighty God inside - but we need to be "broken" before we become completely useful to Him!

Are you being crushed by disappointment, bereavement, pain, sickness, financial difficulties, employment problems, or whatever?  Remember that, while such experiences seem to be tragedies, they may well be God's way of getting through to you - "breaking" you in order that, by His grace, you may display more of His light to others. How could that happen?  Well, Father God deals with each of us as individuals, so I am not in a position to provide a definitive answer to that question.  However, it may be that the way in which you cope with your particular difficulty will cause someone to ask you how you do so! That provides you with an open door to share with that other person, your own testimony to the grace and power of God.

The important thing is to trust Him in spite of the trial, assured that He will give you the power to go on and win new victories for Him.  When you stand before Him, you "... shall understand fully, even as [you] have been fully understood." (I Cor 13:12), and the "why" of broken things will be made plain.

The hymn-writer put it so beautifully:

"Not now, but in the coming years;

it may be in the better Land;

we'll read the meaning of our tears

and there, sometime, we'll understand." (Maxwell N. Cornelius).