Meeting God under the oak of Ophrah

People who make a difference in the world will live 'on the edge' of impossibility. "Changers" - those people who go against the flow - are willing to risk failing and are willing to be disliked in the process of driving creative change. When I say, "change," I’m not thinking - "blow up the establishment." I am more in the mind of living against the culture of "me-ism" that has become the norm.

Change agents today embrace things like:
-A radical commitment to your marriage that puts nurturing your spouse and children ahead of financial gain and/or personal pleasure.
-A choice to live with less things while investing more in ministry and people.
-Tithing to God, first; and building wealth, second.
-Choosing sexual purity - in thought and actions.

One of my favorite ‘changers’ is a man who God called in desperate times. The people of Israel were oppressed by a powerful neighbor tribe. It was so bad that the Israelites abandoned their homes and fields to live in the mountains in caves. God choose a person to be the catalyst for change. He found Gideon threshing his wheat (that is, separating the grain from the stalks and the husks) in a winepress, hidden away under the oak of Ophrah.

Usually threshing was done on a large open floor where the breezes could blow away the chaff in the process, but this future leader was afraid of the marauders stealing his crop. The Angel of the Lord found him there. "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!" (Judges 6:12) I love Gideon's response. He says, "Oh, yeah? If You're with us, why are we hiding in caves? And, by the way, I'm a hero? Well, you don't know my clan. We're known as wimps and I'm the wimpiest of them!" {my paraphrase!}

As long as you only see 'what is' instead of 'what could be' you will be incapable of change- both in yourself and in your world. God helped Gideon to create a new dream. His story is a fascinating study of the patience of God to develop a man He has chosen for His own purposes. The key to his success is this: The Lord said to him, "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man." (Judges 6:16) He started a campaign of spiritual renewal which provoked just about everybody in the land. Because he challenged the status quo, his own people sought to kill him!!

Changers irritate people! Nobody enjoys having their life messed up - even it is already a mess! They learn to live without seeing the junk that is piled up in their heart! The Isrealites had come to accept their misery as normal.

After a long campaign, first to win the hearts of his own people and then to lead them to defeat the invaders; Gideon succeeded in bringing about the dream that God sparked in his heart at a hidden winepress in the back country. He led Israel for 40 years and this is the way the Bible sums up his life: "That is the story of how Israel subdued Midian, which never recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon's lifetime—about forty years—the land was at peace." (Judges 8:28) This was the legacy of a man who saw himself, at first, as "the weakest man, from the weakest family, in the weakest tribe!"

Disciple, set your sights on God’s faithfulness, then ask Him to empower you.
Change starts in our hearts!
Let Him show you the world through His eyes; breaking your heart, pulling you from indifference.

Then, become a catalyst for change - a Kingdom Builder.
May your life be an influence -
-that brings others to wholeness,
-that leads them to freedom,
-that inspires them to love the God who loves you!