I'll have a "Why" sandwich, but hold the "Because."

I thought it was interesting how yesterday Ethan, someone in my small group, mentioned Gideon during our Bible study of 1 Samuel. My Bible reading for today included the calling of Gideon. And I thought it was very interesting to read:

Summarized context (Judges 6:6): And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.

Judges 6:11-16

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to him, "Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?' But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian."

How often do we think like Gideon? That somehow when things go wrong it's God's character to run away or be absent when the going gets tough. My guess was that Gideon was hurting from all the suffering not only for himself but for his family and his people as well - he says, "why...us?" instead of "why...me?" They were suffering under the hand of the Midianites so much that they were crying to the Lord for help and it seemed like if we were all suffering, God couldn't be there. How often do we see others say, "How could God let these bad things happen?" And how often do we say to God, "Why me? Why is all of this happening to the world around me? Where are the all the good things You promised?" We think that the presence of evil equals the absence of God and that to us it all just isn't fair.

And the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?"

Usually when someone asks "why?" you answer with "because." This is where parents usually dig themselves a hole when their kid asks "why?" to a question that the parents either don't want to answer or just don't have the answer to. They end up stumbling over their words or just give their kids the very dissatisfying, "Because I said so."

But God never says in the Bible, "Because I said so."

In fact, even seeing from God's response to Gideon, God doesn't even say, "Because." He just tells Gideon to do something about it. All in one sentence God seems to be saying, "I care about your pain and your family's pain and your people's pain just as much if not way more than you do. But guess what? I'm way ahead of you. I've already thought of a plan - and you get to be a part of it. So stop wallowing in asking the wrong questions and go do something about it."

And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house."

Gideon must have thought God was being absolutely ridiculous. I mean, come on, can you imagine? It's like Gideon was saying, "God, are you kidding me? It's impossible for me to do anything - that's why I asked you why you were putting us through all this suffering in the first place. I feel like I can't do anything about it. It's too big of a task for me to take on."

God was calling Gideon into leadership. How often do we respond to God that way when we see a great need or are asked to "step up"? We tell God all the reasons why we wouldn't be fit for the job: we're not smart enough, we're not brave like that other person, someone else is better suited for it, we're not organized or efficient enough, and the list could go on and on.

We let our weaknesses become our fears. We don't know how it'll all turn out and we're afraid of failing, of disappointing others, of not doing a good enough job. We equate leadership with strength, intelligence and power, and that's everything we don't have or don't have enough of to take on the big task of leading.

But look at God's response:

And the LORD said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."

We freak out, get anxious and angry, and more often than not complain/whine about God not being around when we're experiencing or witnessing others experience suffering. But really, God cares more about us and others than we do. He wants us and tells us we can do something about it and promises that He'll be with us every step of the way.