God's In Tune

Judges 7:13 – Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, "I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!" (NLT)

When I was growing up, radios were quite different from what they are today. The digital world — not to mention satellites — changed everything. Now, I punch the scan button, and the radio automatically advances to the next clear station. Or I can even choose satellite radio.

For many years, I had to tune a radio to a particular station manually. Stations would advertise their call numbers. Finding it required turning a knob so that it advanced to those numbers. Although I saw the numbers displayed on the dial, they were in separate increments. I knew when I was close, but I could know that I had arrived only once I heard a station. Even then, I couldn't be sure that it was the right one until I listened to the announcer announce the call numbers. Delicately turning the knob was necessary to arrive at just the right station.

Digital numbers now make it easy to know that I've tuned in to the correct station. Knowing that I'm tuned into God's plan is reassuring as well. Gideon needed to know that he was. He was sure God had instructed him to defeat Israel's enemies, the Midianites. When God instructed him to do it with only three hundred warriors, he was concerned that he might have tuned in to the wrong station. But trekking into the enemy's camp one night and hearing a dream about a loaf of bread convinced him that he had the right station. God was dialed into his dilemma.

Knowing that God has good plans for us and is dialed into our concerns makes life easier and more peaceful. Peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit that God says should hang from our life's trees. Yet, it's not a peace only experienced when circumstances are in our favour. This peace hangs around both when things are going our way and when they're not. Gideon uncovered it when he heard a dream.

We can live with confidence and peace when we remember that God knows our needs. Nothing escapes Him, and He often gives us little clues that He's aware of our circumstances — as He did for Gideon.

Like a digital radio, we can tune directly to God, and we'll hear loud and clear that He knows all about our plight and is ready to speak peace and wisdom into our situations.

Prayer: Father, thank You for being attentive to our needs, whether large or small. Amen.