I have hidden Thy word in my heart.
(Picture by Lisa R)

Judges 4. “Barak said to her, ‘If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.’ ‘Certainly I will go with you,’ said Deborah. ‘But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.’ So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. There Barak summoned Zebulun and Naphtali, and ten thousand men went up under his command. Deborah also went up with him” (Verses 8-10). This morning these verses hit me the most. Now you’re probably thinking it is because God used a woman to defeat the enemy. Not gonna lie, as a female I am a little proud. Although it is awesome to see God use both Deborah and Jael, they are not the point of the devotion. No, what God spoke to my heart came from these words: In speaking to Deborah, Barak, (commander of GOD’S army) says to Deborah, “If you go, I will go, but if you do not go, I won’t”. Uhmmm…. what?! Here’s why this is a problem, in verse 6, Deborah summons Barak and gives him this instruction, “The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go'”. God told him to go, why does he need Deborah? Note to it doesn’t say God suggests, it says COMMANDS.  Would he seriously have disobeyed God’s command had the judge said she wouldn’t go? Barak looked to the messenger of God, instead of the God who gave the message. Thus, from him was taken away the reward that comes with complete obedience. He was the commander of the army, yet the blessing of the victory was given to a woman. We are Barak, we follow our pastor’s, our teacher’s. We jump, when they say jump, we give, when they say give. Forgetting they are just the messenger. A tool in the hands of God to refine and teach us. Don’t focus on the instrument, focus on the One that created it. Don’t lose the blessing.