For me, actually the worst thing that could happen in the life of a human being rather than coming from outside and then into the human self. Cases that can destroy most human beings is not something that comes from outside and then ambushed her life. Whether it's lost jobs, lost lover, or lost revenue. Not that one, but the worst thing that could happen in a person's life is when people are losing confidence with himself. Other terms, borrowing the language of teenage slang, no longer confident.
People are desperate means he no longer could trust himself. This is the most dangerous because of despair coming from inside one's heart. Something that comes from outside, over time can be removed, but what happens in human life, that's just the person who can solve them. How many people are desperate, who lost kepedean against itself, and then feel tired listless, limp, so do not feel there is more to do than to end his life. In my opinion, this is the biggest problem when we can no longer see that in our lives is something that is still valuable.
We will discuss about Gideon's struggle when he was confronted by God. Gideon and his people are the ones who were desperate. They've lost. They are aware for their sins, they were punished by God. They are also aware of the Median bigger and more powerful. The Israelis are at a cornered. However, it is actually a more dangerous threat than the median is the fact that they lost confidence in themselves as a nation.
When the angel of the Lord comes, Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress. Threshed grain is used to work previously done in the open air. The Israelis do it in a hidden winepress. This means they are scared to death. They did not have another choice. They can not go anywhere else other than to accept the fact that they have to face a stronger nation. However, they also must recognize that within themselves there is no more strength, there is no courage, and is no longer the spirit to fight. People who fall in the deepest despair, he would have lost the spirit of his life. However, people can still find one or two of beauty in his life, he will be people who can survive in the pressures of life that weigh nothing.
The spirit that is not owned survive Gideon. Gideon saw only life was so severe, he who turned out to be nothing. He was full of fear, anxiety, despair until God meet and greet. God says, "God is with you, O valiant warrior." Gideon did not answer God's greeting and even complaints that come out, "Oh my lord, if God is with us, why all this happened to us?"
See, Gideon did not have the spirit. He does not have the will to live, that comes out is a complaint, complaints, and complaints. When people have lost hope, are no longer able to trust himself and has lost its power, then the only thing that often he did was complain. If we have started a lot of complaining, it could be an indication that we have started completely exhausted and loaded so that we can not do nothing but complain, complain, and complain.
Gideon found the Lord in great despair. He could not say anything other than complaints, "If God is with us, why it could this be? I can what? I was the smallest among all the family. I was not able to anything." However, there is something unique in the utterance of God. Indeed Gideon weak, tired, and in fear, and loss of confidence even to himself, but all-knowing God who said, "God is with you, O valiant warrior."
Word of God, it could have two meanings. If in an atmosphere of war there are people who fled because of fear and then he was greeted as a hero who valiantly, then it could be considered as a satire. However, I think God was not being sarcastic Gideon. God in His omnipotence and omniscience in Him is God who sees that in the midst of despair Gideon on his life and in the middle of Gideon failure, even to trust himself, God still trust him. God sees far ahead that later Gideon is now filled with despair and filled with fear and anxiety will become the brave hero.
When God touches and touch someone's life being in the deepest despair, the one thing he do is check the person's life. God will find the most beautiful and the most good, which still could he find in the person's life. Furthermore, God will work through the most beautiful thing is that this person be a competent and tough.
When we lose confidence and regret the fate and mistakes, then we begin to despair and depression, then at times like this that we should let God change our lives. We must let our lives he touched. He will show the parts of our lives that can be used Him to raise us. God understands that when human despair and lose confidence, then he does not have anything else to trust. There is no other way, but God touched him and opened his eyes to see that there may still be one or two things good and beautiful in the eyes of God. Through one and two things, God will shape it into a formidable race.
Sometimes in a desperate condition, depression, fear, anxiety, and loss of belief in ourselves, we would often run away from God. We worry when we come to God, He did not accept us. We think it will be sufficient verbal abuse of people to us and it will be sufficient errors inflicted upon us. We blame ourselves. We thought if we came to the Lord, He will do the same thing as everyone else. He will show our sins and our mistakes? We wondered, would not He will judge us?
That's what makes us finally sunk in the deepest despair because we feel we will fail. We feel God also view and impose the same punishment. They are not. God never did that. Another passage says that a broken heart and full of regret that is the heart that will actually touched by God and it is a heart that is healed by God. However, out of nowhere comes the idea and belief that when we fail, lose, or wrong, then that means God is not willing to accept us. No! God is He who sees the most beautiful thing in the middle of destruction as deep as anything. God has a very sharp eye so that he could find one or two points in the destruction of beauty in our lives.
A colleague who comes from a background of poor and outcast of the family told me that God is for him just as a scavenger. In the past when he failed, the family threw it away. Once his life shattered, he discarded by others, and are considered worthless and should be shunned. He can not even trust himself. However, God as a scavenger who in the midst of the destruction of his life can still see the beautiful things in his life. In the midst of rejection of others, God still accept it. In the midst of the destruction caused ulahnya own life, God can still find good things that can still be repaired. God took it and restore it.
However, instead of saying as my colleague was, why do we tend to view God as someone who stood up with judgments and be ready for sentencing? Why we do not view God as someone who is waiting for us and who still believe in us?
Gideon is a man who loses faith in himself. God touched him and the Lord shows that in power and His work, Gideon can be a hero heroic. However, note the reaction of Gideon. He can not thank you and do not give thanks to God, but continually hide behind the weakness. He constantly blamed the situation. In other words, he does not want God raised her confidence. God changed it, but Gideon hiding behind an unpleasant situation. He chose to hide behind a condition which is the smallest among his people. Gideon chose to stay alive in the weaknesses and limitations. In fact, God has shown that there is a beautiful side on the life of a Gideon.
How often in life we hide behind our weaknesses and limitations. When God wanted to shape our lives, we hide behind our weaknesses and limitations. When God wants to touch our lives, or lives of others with a reprimand for something good intentions, we often say, "Yes, it's been like this." When people ask why we menjalami life without meaning, then we are free to simply blame our environment, and said, "What now?" Thus, the home environment in which we live become the safest haven from the touch of God upon our lives.
Once in college, I lived in a dorm room shared with two friends for six months so that we recognize each character. One of my roommates is someone hard to believe myself. Each before the exam, he was always yelling and banging his head and said that he is a fool and certainly not to do the exam. However, all exam results were announced, this friend always gets the highest value among us. This makes us upset and we encourage him to have confidence. We say that he actually has the ability, but he always refused and argued that he had been of little so and lingkunganlah that make him such. He did not want to change their behavior and instead he took refuge behind the word "indeed I have always been like this."
When God wants to awaken us from despair through a process that happens in our lives, we often choose the retreat alone. We choose to master fear and our despair. We choose to complain about how great the load. In fact, in his omniscience and foresight, the Lord saw that in fact there are certain points of the beautiful in our lives that can be He is doing so gave birth to something extraordinary. The process of God will bear a strong person and a victorious and which will be full of strength. However, the condition is we should let it go at the hand of God in our lives and if the hand of God came into our lives, then first of all he will fix us.
Sometimes we ask for God to solve our problems in accordance with the road which we consider correct. However, if we observe, this is not God's way of solving problems Gideon. Lord Gideon not solve problems by making out the enemies of Gideon, but God helped Gideon by Gideon restore confidence first. He repaired the old feelings of Gideon who felt that he had abandoned God. God gives assurance prior to Gideon that He was upon him. How God delivered us from the struggle and stressful life is to work through ourselves who are in desperate condition. We repaired first and then we, together with the Lord will go forth to face the burdens and struggles that exist.
So, never again pray and ask God to make it all. However, pray that the Lord touched our lives or strengthen ourselves and give us confidence and investment in him so that we emerge as a strong and victorious. God's way of working is different from what we expect. He does not get rid of all the problems, then said, "Gideon Let us move forward." If indeed all of them, then forward again to what? However, he cleared Gideon and his heart first, and restore and confidence. After Gideon restored her confidence, then he is with God appears as a victorious person.
So, when someone is desperate and exhausted, God will not work with how to change something out first, but first the Lord will deal first with the person. Then, the Lord together with this person will face all the challenges of struggle and adversity. Thus, like that of Gideon, something different will occur in the person's life. Why? Since he began to believe that he was not disposed of the Lord. In fact, he began to feel there is God in his life. Enemy remains the same, the load remains the same large, the difficulty would still exist, but the different is one's own self. Like Gideon, he had restored her confidence. He is now with the Lord so that whatever happens outside is something that will be finished together with God.
Not all of us want to admit that you are desperate. Not all of us want to admit that we're in the great struggle. However, what we are experiencing will be implied indirectly through what we say, for example, complaints and our discontent-discontent. This is evident also when we lose trust in others or to yourself.
In these circumstances, first of all let God deal with us. Pray ask, not that God would make it all, but that God would deal with us. When we wonder, "What still can, while people do not believe me? In fact, I do not believe in myself." I believe God can. God was still believing in us. Therefore, if we can no longer believe anything: life we fail, we considered a useless person, we considered people who just add to the burden issue, then in such conditions, let us believe in God. He never left us. God will find beautiful things in our lives that will be an entrance for his hand to continue working. Therefore, I implore, do not we do a suicide attempt when we lose our confidence. Please appreciate this life because life is a gift of God. Remember that he can still see beautiful things, which may not be viewed by anyone. Believe in the Lord because He had to trust you.