There are times when you don’t have a clue who you’re talking to.
There’s the episode written of a man in a tribe that’s part of a nation that’s being battered constantly. Things are so bad that whenever they’re producing anything in their land, they struggle to hide it so that the raiding hordes won’t swoop into nab it. That kind of insecurity can be troubling and lead to a rather low point of national morale.
This man, however, doesn’t think much of himself. It’s bad enough being a part of an oppressed country, but as he sees it, he’s a weak link in the lowest family of the worst tribe in the country that’s being oppressed. As far as the totem pole for social standing goes, this guy thinks he’s just underneath the last rung that’s probably under the earth so no one sees it to avoid the shame.
Here’s something worth considering. Low self-esteem can act as a way to block you from letting anyone else see you or for you to see anyone else. Someone compliments you and you see it as something strange and they themselves must be really strange. When they keep on with positive and constructive conversation it can be really alien. It’s so hard to take on that you’ll need considerable proof to begin to believe what’s being said.
This guy knows exactly what that’s all about. He’s dodging and diving as usual looking to save whatever he can from the hordes, when he’s approached by this figure. As far as our guy is concerned, this figure is no one remarkable. When he opens his mouth to refer to our guy in a positive and affirming way, our guy is baffled. Especially seeing as though as we’ve learnt he doesn’t think he’s worth much at all. He feels he’s worthless in a country that has clearly been neglected whatever the old stories said about the birth of the country. When this figure goes on with talk of being mighty and being the person who will make the difference in turning around the fortunes of the country, our guy is clearly not convinced.
It gets even better, because our guy is given the impression that this figure and this encounter is no regular conversation. Our guy cannot accept that and wants at least to see how the figure will accept a proper meal. When that meal is amazingly consumed in a touch from the figure, our guy goes from being uncertain to being fearful for his life as he really has legitimately had an encounter of the divine kind and it had to take something like that for him to see it.
This was the encounter that Gideon first had with an angelic messenger from God. This in itself wouldn’t completely get Gideon to overcome his doubt and fears. He would require one or two other things to happen to persuade him that what was being said was true. Yet the initial encounter still had a profound impact on Gideon.
This kind of encounter informs me of the importance of taking carefully conversations we have with others. They may appear like regular figures conversing with us. Yet if we’re not careful we can allow our own self-doubt to put us off an encounter that can illuminate more than who we are, it can shine a great light on what we are called to do for others.
Among other things I love about God, I love how He interacts with humanity throughout Scripture. We can be taken up with the grand gestures and the awesome sounding voice from on high. We can buy into the hype that God only speaks a certain way. The beauty of the various encounters is that even if we act completely ignorant and self-concerned when that encounter takes place, there can be enough in it to keep us in the conversation until the realisation dawns on us like ta brand new day.
He talks through angelic messengers and dreams. He talks through your scripture for the day and the sermon on the weekend. He talks through that episode of your favourite television show. He talks through your walk to work looking at the traffic and the hustle and bustle of life.
He is talking – the challenge is if we’ll stay in the conversation long enough to get the dawning realisation.
(Photo by Oliver Hihn on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 