Just as important as maintaining disciplined vigilance, Ruth and I have found that we could not effectively continue our ministry unless we paused from time to time to rest. We all need to schedule time for a holiday or a retreat, and to wait upon God. (Our holidays really became holy days.) This is an essential aspect to being vigilant.

But I have learned one thing: Satan never takes a holiday. Just when we feel our greatest need to relax, Satan releases some totally unanticipated pressure against us, and we may easily be caught without our weapons ready for immediate use.

Does that mean, then, that we no longer rest, relax, or take holidays? No! But it means that we do not bury our faces during those times; we do not lay down our weapons. Ruth and I have learned that holidays are often times when we need to exercise the greatest vigilance.

The point is not to let our guard down. We may need to focus on family relationships, business or educational activities, or a special event or time of celebration. We can participate freely in all of these. But we must not bury our faces in any.

Please remember that in Gideon’s army, less than one out of a hundred qualified! Would the proportions be different today?

What About You?

Perhaps the story of Gideon has stirred something within your heart. Perhaps unrelenting attacks, such as those the Israelites experienced at the hands of the Midianites, have left you feeling bruised, weakened, and wanting to hide.

That was exactly where Gideon found himself. Remember, when the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he was hiding from the very enemy God was calling him to defeat. There was a process he had to go through to reclaim his sense of “might.” Thankfully, God brought him steadily through that process, right up to the moment when “the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, then he blew the trumpet” (Judges 6:34). That was the turning point which led to ultimate victory.

Do you want to be renewed by seeing yourself as God sees you? Do you want to reach out in faith to be strengthened like Gideon, in the power and might of the Lord? Let’s ask the Lord to accomplish this in our lives right now:

a5:T3cc9,

「私たちの価値、私たちの尊厳」をテーマにしたこのティーチングレターシリーズでは、聖書が人間の性格について何を語っているかを見ていきます。

第2回でお話ししたように、聖書は私たちの人格のそれぞれの側面がどのように機能すべきかを示す、類まれな「鏡」です。神の「鏡」を正しく用いることで、私たちは多くの内なる挫折、不調和、そして失敗から救われるのです。

神は私たちをどう見ているか

最近、イザヤ 55:8-9 節の主のことばが深く胸に響きました。

「わたしの思いは、あなたがたの思いと異なり、わたしの道は、あなたがたの道と異なるからだ。─主の御告げ─ 天が地よりも高いように、わたしの道は、あなたがたの道よりも高く、わたしの思いは、あなたがたの思いよりも高い。」

Our Value, Our Worth

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