The Song of Deborah I

“When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord!

Judges 5:2 (NKJV)

Yesterday we saw how it is important for us to always engage God’s presence by His Spirit in all that we do, and that we must not take the glory for ourselves as all glory belongs to God. This is what we see Deborah doing in chapter five, as she sings a song to glorify God for the defeat of their enemies and the victory that God has given to them.

Deborah says in her song, “When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the Lord!” She blesses God for working through the people of Israel, allowing leaders to lead rightly and the people to offer themselves willingly for the sake of the nation. The NLT Version says that “Israel’s leaders took charge, and the people gladly followed. Praise the Lord!” 

Many things that look normal in our lives have happened to us, and we have failed to see how it was God working through all things to achieve His will. It wasn’t obvious but it was still God. Many times, we are waiting for the spectacular to happen before we recognise that it is God at work. But in truth, God is not limited in His works. He works the obvious, the silent, the unseen, the seen, the misunderstood, the understood, and so on. We really cannot box the works of God. And here Deborah was able to identify that the fact that the people were willing, it was God. She saw that the fact that leaders led well, it was still God.

Examine your life, can you see the works of God on display, or are you unable to see it, even in those little things that are easy to overlook, God has been working. Jesus Himself said that God has been working since the beginning, and He is still at work. But, are you seeing those works, or are you calling some things normal or just luck. Are you ascribing the works of God to random things or normalcy? 

This is a time of deep reflection on your life, and a need for consciousness of God’s work. Also, sometimes the problem is that we were not even expecting God to show up in our lives. There is no anticipation that God is at work, and so we are unable to discern when He is doing certain things in our lives. Sometimes, it is a little attitude change in our lives, sometimes we respond to something differently or someone treated you differently after you prayed for them or you noticed your children now respond better or your boss is no longer always angry with you. God works in our lives in many ways, and we must do well to take not of them. 

I believe this is one of the reasons why some people feel less loved by God, because they have not seen the ‘big’ things on display in their lives, when there are so many things they have overlooked. Today, do well to take note and thank God for everything in your life.

PRAYER

Father, I have overlooked many beautiful things you have done in my life, and even some you are doing. Have mercy on me and help me to meditate deeply and be aware of your wonderful works in my life.