"If the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us?"
Note: This has been a difficult article for me to post. It is of a sensitive nature; it has the potential to pour salt on already open wounds. Please know that this is not my intention. I had this experience some time ago and after sharing it with someone intimately aware of the problem, it was strongly suggested that I share it on here. My desire is to communicate hope and faith in our Lord and Savior. This experience had that affect on me and I sincerely hope it does on you if you stand in need of it. Having said that, I will do my best to describe what was shown to me and pray that you can understand what the Lord wanted me (us) to understand. Please go to Him in prayer for more insight and/or wisdom than my weak efforts can impart here.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we hear our leaders speak of the problem of pornography regularly. It truly is a decimating scourge in our world and especially among the LDS population. Both sexes are affected but it is highest among males. A study in 2008 showed that nine out of ten young men actively use pornography; another that Utah (which has the highest concentration of LDS in all the world) had the highest pornographic subscription rate by far of any state in paid subscriptions per capita, per internet connection and per broadband connection (Journal of Adolescent Research January 2008 vol 23 no. 1 6-30 and Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol 23, no. 1 Winter 2009 pgs 209-220, respectively). Is there any doubt that Satan is targeting the priesthood, the Lord's army tasked with carrying off the kingdom triumphantly in these last days? Sadly, if these numbers and my personal knowledge is anything to go by (I don't know of a single family that hasn't been affected by this plague in some form or other), Satan seems to be winning too many battles. Add to this the fact that far too few come forward to get help from shame or aren't willing to admit they have problem and you can see that the kingdom is in serious trouble.
Knowing these statistics and having seen the Satanic effects of this plague with some of my loved ones, I cried out in silent anguish to God. I pled with Him to do something; if He didn't, there wouldn't be enough worthy men left to fight the battle, let alone carry it off triumphantly.
What happened next will take me some time to explain but it all happened in a nano second.
I was shown the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. I recently reviewed it and learned even more about what the Lord was trying to say. Gideon is basically a farmer and the Lord calls him to free the Israelites from the Midianites who are holding them captive. The narrative goes like this,
“And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah...and Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites (Judges 6:11-13, emphasis mine).
In effect, I was saying this but instead of the Midianites, it was this horrible plague of pornography addiction. Like so many others, we had done everything “right” as parents; we had the computer in a central location, we had passwords protecting its use, we had parental control software installed, etc. Basically, everything the Church had counseled us to do to keep our children safe, we did and more. Still, Satan managed to get his vice grip tentacles into our home without our knowledge and affect our family. To say I felt betrayed was an understatement. Where were the protective blessings of the Lord? Why, when we had been obedient had this monster been able to invade our home and wreak spiritual havoc? In effect, “why has all this befallen us?” I could relate to Gideon for sure.
I was “shown” in my mind’s eye, Gideon asking for volunteers to fight the Midianites,
“And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them” (Judges 6:35).
I saw those that came and those that stayed behind. Then the Lord saying this,
“The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand "(Judges 7:2,3).
I saw those who left. Then I was shown this scene,
“The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place” (Judges 7:4-7).
I saw those chosen and those that were turned away.
I knew the ending of the story, of course, but when I re-read the story, I was reminded of some of the details like this one,
“And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude” (Judges 7:12, emphasis mine).
Talk about being outnumbered! Camels were only owned by a relative few of the soldiers and they were so many as could not be counted! No wonder Gideon was fearful to take them on. Victory must have appeared totally impossible and taken all his faith to engage in the “battle”. What happened, of course, amounted to the Lord fighting the battle and 300 worthy men getting to witness it. (Judges 6:16, “And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be awith thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” The “one man” is Christ.)
What I saw next was the most meaningful for me. He showed me the reaction and feelings of each group of men that I had seen. First, the ones of the 10,000 who were willing to face their fears and go to battle but were not chosen; they were willing to defend the kingdom but they partook too much of the world’s offerings to be counted worthy (viewed pornography, for example). Their hearts were in the right place but they were weak in some crucial areas that made them not able to fight with the might the Lord required. After the miracle, there was great pain in their hearts that they were not included and there was resolution to repent and change so that they wouldn’t miss the next opportunity to stand up for the Lord and His kingdom. The next group, the ones that were fearful and turned away, were amazed and wondered at what they had heard happened. They were pricked in their hearts to want to know what it is they didn’t know; specifically to discover and/or strengthen their relationship with Christ so that they could learn to trust Him and never miss out again. The last group, the ones who didn’t come at all, were ashamed and embarrassed at their lack of commitment and it motivated some of them to learn more.
The most important thing I felt throughout was the Lord’s knowledge of and love for each and every individual and their path through life. He showed me He only needs a relative “few” to accomplish His modern day miracles and that He is aware of the rest and is shepherding them as only the One True Shepherd can. The weak will be strengthened. The fearful will be courageous. The lost will be found. He will save His children from the Satanic cesspool we seem to be drowning in as a church. Though hell’s host seems numberless, He will magnify His worthy and ready “few” and through Him, the kingdom will be borne off triumphantly.
It was then and remains still, a great comfort to me. I sincerely hope it will be to you. God bless us all.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we hear our leaders speak of the problem of pornography regularly. It truly is a decimating scourge in our world and especially among the LDS population. Both sexes are affected but it is highest among males. A study in 2008 showed that nine out of ten young men actively use pornography; another that Utah (which has the highest concentration of LDS in all the world) had the highest pornographic subscription rate by far of any state in paid subscriptions per capita, per internet connection and per broadband connection (Journal of Adolescent Research January 2008 vol 23 no. 1 6-30 and Journal of Economic Perspectives Vol 23, no. 1 Winter 2009 pgs 209-220, respectively). Is there any doubt that Satan is targeting the priesthood, the Lord's army tasked with carrying off the kingdom triumphantly in these last days? Sadly, if these numbers and my personal knowledge is anything to go by (I don't know of a single family that hasn't been affected by this plague in some form or other), Satan seems to be winning too many battles. Add to this the fact that far too few come forward to get help from shame or aren't willing to admit they have problem and you can see that the kingdom is in serious trouble.
Knowing these statistics and having seen the Satanic effects of this plague with some of my loved ones, I cried out in silent anguish to God. I pled with Him to do something; if He didn't, there wouldn't be enough worthy men left to fight the battle, let alone carry it off triumphantly.
What happened next will take me some time to explain but it all happened in a nano second.
I was shown the story of Gideon in the Old Testament. I recently reviewed it and learned even more about what the Lord was trying to say. Gideon is basically a farmer and the Lord calls him to free the Israelites from the Midianites who are holding them captive. The narrative goes like this,
“And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah...and Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites (Judges 6:11-13, emphasis mine).
In effect, I was saying this but instead of the Midianites, it was this horrible plague of pornography addiction. Like so many others, we had done everything “right” as parents; we had the computer in a central location, we had passwords protecting its use, we had parental control software installed, etc. Basically, everything the Church had counseled us to do to keep our children safe, we did and more. Still, Satan managed to get his vice grip tentacles into our home without our knowledge and affect our family. To say I felt betrayed was an understatement. Where were the protective blessings of the Lord? Why, when we had been obedient had this monster been able to invade our home and wreak spiritual havoc? In effect, “why has all this befallen us?” I could relate to Gideon for sure.
I was “shown” in my mind’s eye, Gideon asking for volunteers to fight the Midianites,
“And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them” (Judges 6:35).
I saw those that came and those that stayed behind. Then the Lord saying this,
“The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand "(Judges 7:2,3).
I saw those who left. Then I was shown this scene,
“The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place” (Judges 7:4-7).
I saw those chosen and those that were turned away.
I knew the ending of the story, of course, but when I re-read the story, I was reminded of some of the details like this one,
“And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like grasshoppers for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the sea side for multitude” (Judges 7:12, emphasis mine).
Talk about being outnumbered! Camels were only owned by a relative few of the soldiers and they were so many as could not be counted! No wonder Gideon was fearful to take them on. Victory must have appeared totally impossible and taken all his faith to engage in the “battle”. What happened, of course, amounted to the Lord fighting the battle and 300 worthy men getting to witness it. (Judges 6:16, “And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be awith thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” The “one man” is Christ.)
What I saw next was the most meaningful for me. He showed me the reaction and feelings of each group of men that I had seen. First, the ones of the 10,000 who were willing to face their fears and go to battle but were not chosen; they were willing to defend the kingdom but they partook too much of the world’s offerings to be counted worthy (viewed pornography, for example). Their hearts were in the right place but they were weak in some crucial areas that made them not able to fight with the might the Lord required. After the miracle, there was great pain in their hearts that they were not included and there was resolution to repent and change so that they wouldn’t miss the next opportunity to stand up for the Lord and His kingdom. The next group, the ones that were fearful and turned away, were amazed and wondered at what they had heard happened. They were pricked in their hearts to want to know what it is they didn’t know; specifically to discover and/or strengthen their relationship with Christ so that they could learn to trust Him and never miss out again. The last group, the ones who didn’t come at all, were ashamed and embarrassed at their lack of commitment and it motivated some of them to learn more.
The most important thing I felt throughout was the Lord’s knowledge of and love for each and every individual and their path through life. He showed me He only needs a relative “few” to accomplish His modern day miracles and that He is aware of the rest and is shepherding them as only the One True Shepherd can. The weak will be strengthened. The fearful will be courageous. The lost will be found. He will save His children from the Satanic cesspool we seem to be drowning in as a church. Though hell’s host seems numberless, He will magnify His worthy and ready “few” and through Him, the kingdom will be borne off triumphantly.
It was then and remains still, a great comfort to me. I sincerely hope it will be to you. God bless us all.
Comments
Post a Comment