[Faith-talk] {Spam?} Daily Thought for Friday, May 6, 2016

[Paul Smith]

Hello and greetings to all my fellow cyberreading saints of the Most 
High God, no matter where you happen to live.  I hope that your day is 
going well, whether it's at its beginning, middle or ending.

Before I post today's contribution I have a question for you.  Tomorrow 
in this space will be a poem about mothers written by Fanny Crosby, the 
words to which I'll post.  Would you like to have me attach an 
audiofile so that I may sing the same to an obscure folk melody from 
northeast Nevada? Now I'm not the best singer, but I also realize that 
not all here may be able to open an audiofile attachment.  If I get 
enough affirmative wishes will do so tomorrow.  Thanks for your responses.

And now for today's contribution which had been posted previously, but 
not all have read it.  It was written some 12 years ago by Lorna Simcox 
and is entitled "Deborah:  A Mother In Israel," rendered as follows:

Some people are unlikely leaders.  On the surface, they appear to lack 
the distinctiveness we usually associate with greatness.  David, for 
example, was a shepherd boy, a dreamer, who wrote songs and played a 
harp--qualities not generally sought after when you're calling someone 
to vanquish your enemies.  Yet God not only called him to be a man of 
war but to be king over all Israel.  Why? Because David had something 
more important than military skill or royal pedigree.  He had faith.

In the days of the judges, a woman named Deborah became leader of 
Israel.  By our standards, she, too, was an unlikely candidate for such 
a call.  The Bible says little about her credentials other than the 
fact that she was a wife and mother (Judges 4:4, 5:7), neither of which 
qualified her to run a country.  But she had the same advantage David 
had.  She had faith.

At a time when Israel was floundering and every man was doing what 
seemed right in his own eyes, God reached down and plucked out a woman 
of great faith who was willing to follow obediently after Him.

Scripture says Deborah was a prophetess, meaning God spoke to her and 
she relayed His Word to the people.  She was a judge, meaning she ruled 
and individuals came to her to settle their disputes.  And, of course, 
she was a wife and mother in Israel.

Her best-known feat came when the Israelites cried out to God for 
relief after 20 years of oppression under Jabin, king of Canaan.  
Mighty Jabin had 900 iron chariots and ruled from Hazor in northern 
Israel.  Deborah, who lived in the south, outside Jerusalem in the 
hills of Ephraim, summoned Barak from the tribe of Naphtali, near 
Hazor.  When Barak arrived, Deborah boldly relayed God's plan.

Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward 
Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of 
Naphtali and of the children of Zebulon? And I will draw unto thee, to 
the river Kishon, Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his 
chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand 
(Judges 4:6-7).

Barak was willing to comply, but he insisted Deborah go with him.  
Deborah agreed but told Barak that now he would relinquish to a woman 
the honor of capturing Sisera.

That day God fought for Israel, as Deborah knew He would.  The Lord 
sent a torrential downpour that flooded the Kishon River and mired 
Sisera's seemingly invincible armada in the mud.  Sisera fled and was 
done in by another woman, Jael, who drove a tent stake through his head 
and killed him.  Thus, God delivered Israel.

Afterward, Deborah wrote a beautiful song (Judges 5) that exalts God 
and reveals much about herself.  She was a woman of profound faith and 
discernment.  She had astutely assessed her country's dismal situation 
:5:6-7), understood the reason for it (idolatry, v. 8), and took charge 
(vv. 7, 12).  She had risen to such power that when she summoned Barak, 
he came immediately, never questioning her authority or instructions.  
Deborah is the only woman in the Bible who both ruled Israel and gave 
military orders to a man, with God's blessing.

When she demanded the troops be mustered, she expected them to show up. 
Those who ignored the call, she cursed:  "Curse ye Meroz ... curse ye 
bitterly the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of 
the Lord" (v. 23).  Deborah probably could not understand why these 
fighting men of Israel had so little faith in God.

On the one hand, Deborah seemed "tough," a woman to be reckoned with.  
Yet, on the other, she seemed extremely maternal.  Only a mother who 
cared for her children would even think to picture Sisera's mother as 
anxiously waiting for her son to come home, worrying that he was late 
returning from battle (v. 28).

Interestingly, no scriptural evidence exists that Deborah usurped male 
authority.  Sad to say, little godly male authority probably existed in 
those days.  Israel was in such sorry spiritual shape that God further 
shamed the nation by placing its top leadership into the hands of a woman.

However, we might do well to remember that the history of modern 
missions is filled with women of great faith whom God placed in 
positions of enormous responsibility.  In the jungles of Colombia and 
Venezuela, Sophie Molier planted hundreds of churches for more than 50 
years until the Lord finally called her home in October 1995.  Her 
autobiography, published by New Tribes Mission, is called "His Voice 
Shakes the Wilderness."

After Jim Elliot, Nate Saint and three other missionaries were speared 
to death in Ecuador by the Huaorani (Auca) Indians in 1956, two women 
succeeded them:  Elisabeth Elliot, Jim's widow, and Rachel Saint, 
Nate's sister.  Miss Saint remained in Ecuador, leading the Indians to 
Christ, discipling and ministering to them until her death in 1994.

Living in a world driven by material success and accomplishment, it's 
easy to forget that it isn't so much our skills God wants as is our 
wills.  Barak, no doubt, was a fine military man.  And he is listed in 
Hebrews 11 as a man of faith.  However, he would have captured Sisera 
himself had he trusted God a little more.  Deborah, on the other hand, 
was a wife and mother.  But her faith made her a vessel of far greater 
use to the Lord than anyone would have imagined.

The Bible teaches that our time on Earth is short:  "For what is your 
life? It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then 
vanisheth away" (James 4:14).  Many people may shake mountains with 
their credentials and build kingdoms with their skills.  But in the 
end, what will count for eternity will not be what we accomplished with 
our abilities but what God accomplished through us with our faith.

And there you have Lorna's article today which I hope was a blessing to 
all readers, especially you ladies.  Coincidentally, if I counted 
right, there are at least three ladies reading these lines who are 
named Deborah or that name's derivatives.

And that will do it for today.  Until tomorrow when, Lord willing 
another daily thought message and article will be posted, may the God 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and 
collectively, in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian 
friend and brother, Paul