Cutter Downer, Lifter Upper…
Part 3: Frustration & Fruitfulness
The first two posts in this series came to me fairly quickly and easily. I didn’t have to wrestle with them much at all. On the contrary, this third post has been frustrating.
I was watching the Great British Bake Off this week, with my family, and one of the bakers (slight spoiler alert) uttered something like this,
“I don’t feel like continuing…”
Whereas, in our last post we saw the vulnerable position we get to when we feel like we still have something left to give… now the opposite is true here. It’s a sad statement if that’s where it stays. But when you really have nothing left, it can also become a powerful invitation to ask for help .
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…”
Matthew 7:7 NIV
Gideon’s story continues,
“Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.”
Judges 6:3 NIV
Here we witness a group of enemy people waiting until the Israelites had planted their crops and then invading the land. Simply taking what they wanted and ruining the rest. Their actions are deliberate and calculated. Designed to wear down and frustrate their opponents.
Have you ever felt that kind of frustration? Frustration when there should have been fruitfulness.
“Frustration when there should have been fruitfulness.”
You’ve planted, you’ve waited… but you never get the chance to harvest what you invested and sowed. If you’re left with anything at all, it’s always just the scraps.
And then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again…
But 'whenever' you plant, it’s the enemy who always has the last laugh. There they are again… no mercy, no let up.
They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
Judges 6:4 NIV
Problems, too many to count… Camping out. Cooking marshmallows over the fire. Warming their hands. Sitting comfortably in the very place where you’re deeply uncomfortable.
“Sitting comfortably in the very place where you’re deeply uncomfortable.”
And then adding insult to injury, putting salt on your wounds and rubbing your nose in it just for good measure.
I mean, what a year it has been!
And just when you think it might be getting better. Something else comes along to rain on your parade…
They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it.
Judges 6:5 NIV
I want us to feel the despondency of the Israelites in this story. You had cared for it and they come and ravage it. I want us to consider our own frustrations and pain. I want us to be honest and acknowledge how we really feel. I want us to own it so that we can find hope in this verse…
“Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.”
Judges 6:6 NIV
Cry out to the Lord for help right now! Don’t be too proud. Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Don’t try to work out why you’re in this mess. Just cry out to the Maker for help!
God will hear you…
“They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.”
Psalms 107:27-31 NIV
A friend of mine sent me this recently. I thought it might be helpful as a final thought,
“Just want to encourage you that even if things appear unseen, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”
Right now we might only be able to see poverty but let’s believe together for favour, freedom and fruitfulness to come.
