Pardon Me my Lord?

We have been in the book of judges this month, Steve Stern spoke the opening message and challenged us to go home and read through the book. I did and have all this week, over and over and over again. It's packed with adventure and drama, sin and justice, slavery and freedom, all this heart wrenching stuff. Literally heart wrenching, pulling so hard on my heart strings that songs began to come forth and prayers burst from my mouth. GOD I WANT AVENTURE! LORD WHEN DOES IS START? LIFE? What does it mean to really live, to actually rout the enemy, see lives dramatically touched, and more than just lifes, generations, eternities. When does it start Lord? Katie Scott spoke today bringing the second teaching and continuing to stir me up down in the deepest parts of my being. She said, " The Lord told Deborah to get ten thousand men who had not faught in twenty years, fat and sloppy men of only two out of the twelve tribes to go and fight." (Judges 4) There is this patern; Evil-consequences-crying out-the lord hearing-the lord raises up a judge-peace. The peace would die as soon as the judge died and the people would decide they were comfortable. They would be passive as there enemies would agressively grow and eventually overpower them. As there enemies attacked they would try to stay comfortable and hide away instead of fight. in the midstof the hiding a new generation is being raised up. The new generation not knowing of what God has done, not knowing that there is better, that the promise was not to live in caves and try to servive. The promise was a land flowing with milk and honey, with God being there God and them being his people. A promise that his presence would go with them and distinguish them from all other people on the earth. That promise still stood even while they hid in caves. The word was still alive though they settled for a lame exsistance of planting crops for there enemies to eat and destroy. After the pain got bad enough they would cry out, but it was not the crying that set them free from the oppression of sin. It was a person who lived by the spirit, who cried out with there life, "Lord use me, I am not satisfied!" It was a Judge, the person who would strap a sword to there side and do something.Crying will do nothing for you unless it brings the discomfort that causes you to do something.Our generation does not know God and is doing evil in his sight. The promise of God still stands and is extended to us. I have been crying out to the Lord and been stirred by the holy spirit to step out in the school, to step out in my life. The angel of the Lord is saying to me and to you "Mighty warrior, the lord is with you." We respond like Gideon in Judges 6, "Pardon me my Lord, if you are with us then why is this happening to us? Where are the Wonders of old?"Read that story, I will be back...