How Will You Drink the Water?

For the record, the Supreme Court has messed up my afternoon. Thanks to the latest ruling on same-sex couples, I feel led to send this message.
 
Since the ruling was issued this morning, I’ve seen various postings, comments, declarations and arguing both from the Christian camp opposed to same-sex marriage and the camp that is in favor of, or in favor of ignoring, same-sex marriages and the issues surrounding the rights of these couples.
 
It is always the same – hate vs. love.
 
My pastor posted a message today on his ministry Facebook page as follows:
 
“The attack on the family continues. Come on Church. Don't give up the fight. Our families are worth it!”
 
I totally agree. It’s a fight.
 
And the gloves were on today around the nation.
 
There were the usual comments to his post such as “Pray” and “Jesus is coming!”
 
I also saw some other posts on other feeds that said that allowing same-sex couples to be recognized as married brings unity to the families and divorce is what is messing up families.
 
And others, the Church has no business worrying about people’s moral choices…that’s for the legal system….and it (the Church) should worry about taking care of it’s own people (because they claim it is not) before they cast judgment or offer an opinion.
 
And it could go on, and on, and on.
 
I don’t usually comment or “like” public postings as much anymore…I save that for my Sandalfeet page, but I had to comment on this one. It probably doesn’t surprise my husband that I had a comment, but it might surprise him that I was trying to be more positive than I usually am. Must be a Holy Spirit moment!
 
I am currently in a great study on Gideon written by Priscilla Shirer. Boy, can we learn a lot from Gideon….
 
Gideon appears in only three chapters in the book of Judges, but his small part in history lands him in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11.
 
The first week we met, we were confronted with this verse. It is found twice in the book of Judges. Once is chapter 17 verse 6 and once is chapter 21 verse 25.
 
"In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes."
 
As soon as these words were read out loud, we all sort of looked at each other like, “wow, that sounds just like today.”
 
This was my point in my posting to my pastor’s Facebook comment.
 
Today does not mark the first (and sadly probably not the last) time a country has done it’s own thing.
 
But what we can learn from Gideon is that God has and will send His people to turn nations, and hopefully our nation, back to Him. He’s a redemptive God….always has been.
 
So what can we do as a Church? Instead of division, we need to claim what I posted:
 
"Don't let Satan allow you to believe our nation is sinking. Pray instead that we will be lifted high, that we will be exalted among nations again and that Jesus is indeed our risen King!!
 
We need revival not sorrow."
 
What good will revival do? Revival changes nations! Revival changes hearts!
 
By bringing God into, or back into, our lives, our families and our everyday living, we will grow up people who are committed followers of Jesus, our reigning King. We can become today’s modern “Judges” that God has planted in every possible mission field. We can be, or our children and grandchildren can be, the ones on the front line pushing legislation, teaching children, controlling banks and controlling businesses. We can be the soldiers in this war. Because just like Gideon, God may only choose some, not all, to go into battle.
 
Our armies may look small, but our leading commander is bigger than all.
 
We don’t need everyone to be on board. We don’t need an involuntary draft. We need committed soldiers who are poised to fight the enemy All. The. Time.

Judges 7:4-6 tells us how God reduced Gideon's numbers from 10,000 to 300. God told Gideon to take them down to the spring.
 
"But the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. Then it will be, that of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ the same shall not go.” So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps from the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set apart by himself; likewise everyone who gets down on his knees to drink.” And the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was three hundred men; but all the rest of the people got down on their knees to drink water."

Water descriptions in the Bible are great imagery because the Holy Spirit is our “Living Water” (John 7:39) and God is always trying to bring us back to Him, especially during periods of testing. The 9,700 soldiers who chose to bury their faces in the water were the ones who were dismissed. Their main concern was their personal comfort and their immediate need. Sure, they had already signed up for service on behalf of God’s people; they had even made an initial round of cuts, but because they failed this test, they were excluded and sent packing.
 
Maybe our “test” today is how we respond to today’s Supreme Court rulings.
 
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God to send me packing. And I certainly don’t want to miss out on any harvest or victory party. I’m in. I’ve signed up. I feel like I may have even made some cuts so far and I’d really like to hear God say, “This girl….she’s in it to win it, y’all!” Okay, so I don’t think God has a Randy Jackson slang vocabulary, but I think you get my point.
 
We can’t win battles for God if we sit back idly and wallow in our sorrows and our setbacks. Even when we are thirsty, exhausted and feel like the enemy has us beat, God is going to test us to see if we make the final cut.
 
I hope and pray friends that we are in the winner’s circle together sharing the victory that is God’s to be won.