April 2023 -

A puppet

I am a puppet in God’s hands. I delight in being a puppet in God’s hands. I am not a lifeless puppet. I am a living puppet, with emotions, strong willpower, rebellion, and so on and so forth. I have tasted and seen that my God is good and faithful and there is no one like Him. Pleasing God in everything is my only priority because I love Him with my everything. I have no words to explain how good He is to me! John 15:10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. My only desire is to obey God in everything that He tells me and to praise Him all my life.

Why do I consider myself a puppet in God’s hands? Not always do I “hear” God. Sometimes, I hear Him speak in my thoughts, though with no audible voice, I can hear Him loud enough to catch my attention. Whatever He says would align with His character which is mentioned in the Bible. One such thing would be, “While you are waiting for me to come through in your situation, why don’t you pray for others?”. I instantly understood that was the LORD and started to pray for others, even though my own situation was like a flat tire. These are situations where I could hear Him clearly.

But there are also a lot of times when I don’t hear any instructions, but, initiating a text with someone or a conversation about a topic with someone would result in encouraging and lifting up their spirits. I have felt so overjoyed to hear that from them. Because even I would feel amazed by how I did those things without knowing anything about their situations. My prayer to God is, “Lord, use me. Anytime when someone needs an encouraging word to lift up their spirits, please remember me. Please pull the strings of my heart as a puppet to accomplish what You would want through me. Here I am, O Lord. Use me”.

I know how lonely the pits of depression and loneliness and failures and humiliations can be. I have been there for long enough to know how painful and hopeless that can be. But, my God took me out of that with His nail-pierced hands for a reason. He lighted my candle when I was in the dark. So I want to light the candles of others who are in the dark. Keep my candle going, O Lord. Help me to be the candle that draws people to Jesus. Amen! Hallelujah!

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Do not deny bread

Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Gideon and his three hundred men were exhausted but kept pursuing their enemies and crossed the Jordan. He said to the men of Sukkoth, ” Give my troops some bread; they are worn out as I am still pursuing the kings of Midian”. But the officials of Sukkoth mocked them and replied, “Do you already have the hands of the Midian kings? Why should we give bread to your troops?”. Gideon replied angrily, “When the LORD has given the Midian kings into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns”. From there, he went to Peniel and asked its men the same. They also replied just as the men of Sukkoth and refused to give them bread. Gideon challenged that he will tear down their towers. As God was with Gideon, he pursued and captured the kings of Midian and killed them. And while returning, he did just as he challenged the above two cities.

Today people might not come to our door asking for bread or food. But we are surrounded by people who go through various crisis situations. The bread that we can offer to them is the bread that brings them hope, the bread that lifts up their spirit. Even the great prophet Elijah when he was on the verge of giving up on life and slept under a tree, the angel brought him food, twice.

When someone feels exhausted with their situations, may we not further weaken their spirit by adding our versions of discouragements. We need to remember that we represent a God for whom anything is possible – the God who raised Lazarus four days after his death, the God who fed the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness, the God who parted the Red Sea to make a way for His children, so on and so forth. Our God hears the cries of the people whom He created – even the wicked and the disobedient ones. Israelites, His chosen and yet rebellious ones, are the perfect examples. God has a great reputation for showing up on time, though many a time, it would seem late to us.

Peninnah taunted Hannah day in and day out. But when God heard Hannah’s cries, there was no room for taunting words anymore. Hagar despised Sarah. But when God remembered Sarah, there was no more room for Hagar to despise her. Sennacherib taunted the Israelites with his blasphemous and discouraging words, but when God killed his mighty army, there was no more room for his taunts. Whenever Jesus was approached by people who were in need of healing, He expected just one thing from them – believe that He can. So when people around us grow weary in their journey, may we be the ones who offer the bread of encouragement to them.

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A Tent peg and a hammer

The LORD sold the children of Israel into the hand of Jabin, the king of Canaan because they did evil in the sight of God. The commander of Jabin’s army was Sisera who harshly oppressed the children of Israel and they cried out to their God.

Deborah was a prophetess, who was also a judge in Israel during this time. One day she called for Barak and said to him, “Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded? Take with you the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and against you, I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude and I will deliver him into your hand?”. Judges 4:6

And Barak said to Deborah, “If you will go with me, then I will go but if you will not go with me, I will not go!”.

This statement of Barak has amazed me. After Deborah says a word from the LORD that Sisera’s army will be defeated by him, he asked for Deborah to accompany him. On the other hand, Moses pleaded to God, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here”. Exodus 33:15

Deborah replied to Barak, “I will surely go with you; nevertheless there will be no glory for you in the journey that you are taking, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

My belief is that this privilege of defeating Sisera, a commander who owned 900 iron chariots and a multitude of the army, was given to a woman because Barak asked for Deborah’s accompaniment instead of God’s. Even after God had given His Word that He will give Sisera in their hand, as Barak did not dare to go forward in faith, I believe, the privilege got delegated to a woman.

Barak took 10000 men with him. Sisera had a multitude of army which included 900 iron chariots. And yet, Sisera’s army was defeated at the edge of the sword before Barak. Sword of 10000 Israelite men? No, the Sword of God Almighty. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. Not a man was left in Sisera’s army.

On foot, Sisera reached the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite who was in peace alliance with King Jabin and Sisera. Jael offered a peaceful welcome to Sisera and covered him with a blanket. Sisera instructed her to tell anyone who came looking for him that there is no one else in the tent. He asked her for some water and she brought him a jug of milk instead. He drank it and fell into a deep sleep as he was exhausted from the run.

Jael wasted no time. She took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand and drove the tent peg into his temple and it went down into the ground. He died instantly. In the meantime, Barak pursued Sisera and reached Jael’s tent. Jael came out to meet him and said, “Come, I will show you the man whom you seek.” He went into the tent and saw Sisera dead with the peg on his temple.

Thus God gave Sisera and his army in the hands of a woman just as He gave the Word. God equips the ones whom He calls. So if we get God’s call to do something, may we not fear. Because the One who gives us a task will equip us for it, for there is none faithful as Him. May we not delegate the tasks to others or ask for others’ company rather than God’s company to finish His task.

Even though Barak led the army, the victory was delegated to Jael, a simple woman who lived in the tent. God used the tent peg that was in her hand rather than the sword that was in fearful Barak’s hand. May we use our smallest skills to accomplish big tasks for the LORD so that His name is glorified. Amen!

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The Bigger, The Better!

The bigger the enemy’s army, the better God’s children’s victory! Contrary to the world’s belief. As Joshua led the Israelites towards victory over many kings, the king of Hazor gathered a huge number of other kings and came against Joshua. Their armies were as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots. But the LORD said to Joshua, ” Do not be afraid because of them, for tomorrow about this time, I will deliver all of them slain before Israel. You shall hamstring their horses and burn their chariots with fire. “ Joshua 11:6.

Joshua and all the people of war with him came against these enemies and attacked them. Joshua 11:8 says “And the LORD delivered them into the hand of Israel. they attacked them until they left none of them remaining. Isn’t it as simple as that? No logic is needed when God is involved. Joshua did to them just as the LORD had told him; he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.

Obviously, Israelites who were captives in Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and witnessed Pharaoh’s chariots drown and then wandered for forty years in the wilderness, owning no chariots or horses. They probably had only some hand weapons, like swords, javelins, etc, whatever they could make by themselves. And yet, God particularly instructed them not to take the chariots to use them in the upcoming wars because Israel’s help does not come from the chariots or horses, but from the LORD Himself.

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. 8. They have bowed down and fallen; But we have risen and stand upright.

Psalm 27:3 Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident.

Psalm 44:3 For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Compared to the world’s standards, don’t we have what it takes to win? Perfect! God’s right hand on our side is more than enough!

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He hears us

1 John 5:14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

15. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

Exodus 2:24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

James 5:16 b The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

In order to receive answers to our prayers, we should learn to pray according to God’s will. To know God’s will, we need to know God’s character through God’s word.

In Deut 32:10, when God told Moses that He will make him a great nation, Moses pleaded with God to turn from His fierce wrath against the Israelites. Moses did not want the Egyptians and the other pagan nations to disgrace the God of the Israelites for destroying them in the wilderness. Deuteronomy 9:19 says, “But the LORD listened to me at that time also”. Rather than the blessing that God offered him to be a great nation, Moses desired God’s name to be lifted high.

Though Hannah went through the unbearable agony of barrenness, she prayed that if God would give her a son, she will give that child back to God. When Hannah prayed this prayer, God opened her womb and gave her a son who served as a great prophet. And God also gave her three sons and two daughters.

When Esther realized that God had appointed her as the queen so that she can stand in the gap to protect His chosen people, she called for a prayer pleading for her own life and the life of God’s chosen people. God protected Esther and His people.

When Solomon became the King, God appeared to him in a dream and asked him what he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom to lead the Israelites. God was pleased with Solomon’s request. God granted him wisdom like no other. He also gave him riches and honor.

Mathew 6:33 Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.

May we learn to turn our prayer requests into God’s Kingdom purposes. Then we can be sure that our prayers will be answered.

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