Teamwork

It doesn’t take a lot to fail but it takes effort to succeed.  It takes the Lord and some teamwork.  Deborah was a judge in Israel.  Years earlier they had not driven out all the heathen from the land.  Now those enemies had to be faced.  They were thorns in their side all through the years.  We can’t blame everything that’s going on in the world on the younger generation. We have to take some credit/fault as do the generations before us.

I’m glad there is an office greater than the Oval Office and a throne bigger than those in this world.  Jesus Christ sits on that throne and no other is at the right hand of the Father.  People were doing evil then just as they are now.  There were still people of God in the land then as well as now.  Deborah used teamwork.  God doesn’t really need us to accomplish his work but he uses us to do it.

Judges 4: ⁴ And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, she judged Israel at that time. ⁵ And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. ⁶ And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedeshnaphtali, and said unto him, Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun? ⁷ And I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine hand. ⁸ And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. ⁹ And she said, I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ¹⁰ And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet: and Deborah went up with him.

If you turn the television on to watch football and only one person from each team was on the field it wouldn’t be much fun to watch.  Some sports people get lots of recognition for what they do, but the fact is it takes teamwork to make them look good.  A team must work together to be good and defeat their opponent.  If a team of horses on a plow didn’t work together with people in the old days, the farmers would have never got a field plowed.  Factories take teamwork.  It’s the same way with serving the Lord.  We all matter.  As in Deborah’s time, it is the same now.  There is a big task ahead of us.  For them it was the Canaanites.  In reality it was the devil.  That’s whose against us today.  If you take a stand you’ll face the adversary.

God doesn’t want us to go at it by ourselves.  Go at it together.  The only way to stand and withstand is together.  Because someone upheld the cause of Jesus Christ, the Bible and Christianity before us we were saved.  The world needs us to be faithful and uphold the cause of Christ.  Souls hang in the balance.  Who will stand in the gap between God and the lost?  We need to do it together!  God called us to work together not sit on the sidelines.  The load is too much for one.  We must be willing to do our part.  God will do his.

God still has a plan and we have a part.  Otherwise we’d be gone.  We’ve not left out of here yet so there is work to do by and through the Lord.  Victory can still be won.  People can still be saved.  You and I are the guides to get people to Jesus.

Deborah called for Barak to come.  God told her how to judge Israel.  To be a soldier of the cross we must be a servant to others.  We’re not to take up a sword like many religious fanatics today.  The devil is having a time and laughs as they kill each other.  We are to be a messenger of the Captain of their Salvation.  Jesus didn’t come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.  Deborah told Barak God had commanded him to gather the soldiers to face the enemy.  God wants us to face the world and stand for God unashamed.  Let Jesus use us.  They had to go and God would do the rest.  If we go, God will work.

Every one of us is called to be in the army.  Sometimes we act like no one else matters, as if we’re the only one going to heaven.  It’s not that way.  Barak told Deborah if thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.  His action depended on Deborah’s action.  He knew it depended on him but he was depending on God not himself and was also depending on her.  You have to be dependable and faithful.  If you can’t be depended on people can’t depend on you.  It takes us all for victory.  It depends on every one of us depending on each other.  Barak depended on Deborah.  Before we undertake a work for the Lord be willing to let others help.  I need you.  You need me.  We need God.  We need each other.  Let’s go together with the Lord.

Deborah said I will surely go.  Come to the conclusion that you matter to God.  Everyone is important to him.  We need to esteem each other highly for the Lord’s sake.  Bring ourselves down and lift each other up.  The load is too big to bear by ourselves.  We need the Lord and each other.

Barak could count on Deborah.  The Lord worked and discomfited the enemy.  Sisera ran and went to tent of Jael, a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law.  Deborah and Barak didn’t know where he went but God did.  Jael gave him milk to drink.  He got sleepy and went to bed.  She got a tent stake and nailed his head to the ground.  God used her to nail the devil to the floor.  Working as a team everybody did what God wanted and the enemy was defeated.  Israel had rest for 40 years.

Judges 5:19-20 tell us the kings came and fought, then fought the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money. They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.  The army of heaven fought with the army of the earth.  God was working with man.  Believers were working with believers.  The mission was accomplished.

Jesus said that as the Father speaks so did he.  That’s the mindset we need.  Be a team with Jesus.  With teamwork let’s get the job done.