When the Menu is Manna

  “So, then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.” — Romans 9:18 When we hear the words God hardened his heart , our minds often go straight to the story of the ruthless Egyptian Pharaoh that went to great lengths to refuse to obey Gods command. That was to let the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt go free to worship the God of Israel. His story feels heavy—almost unsettling. But Romans 9 reminds us that Pharaoh is not the only example Scripture gives, nor is he meant to stand alone. Scripture also places him beside people like Gideon, revealing not two different Gods, but two very different heart postures . Gideon’s story begins quietly and unremarkably. He is not commanding armies or issuing decrees. He is hiding—threshing wheat in a winepress, afraid of the Midianites and unsure of God’s presence in Israel’s suffering (Judges 6:11–13). Yet when the Angel of the LORD calls him a “mighty man of valor,” Gideon does not scoff in pride or defiance. Inste...

  One of my favorite stories in Scripture is the story of Gideon. When we first meet him in Judges 6, he is not presented as a hero or a natural leader. Instead, he appears cautious, fearful, and overwhelmed by circumstances beyond his control. Gideon is introduced while threshing wheat in a winepress—an act that reveals both scarcity and fear, as he hides from the Midianites who were terrorizing Israel. ¹ At this time, Israel was living under severe oppression. The Midianites regularly invaded the land, destroying crops and livestock and leaving the Israelites without basic necessities. ² Gideon had grown up in these conditions, and like many of us, he had learned how to survive rather than how to hope. He adapted. He hid. He did just enough to get by. Gideon lived in Ophrah, a town belonging to the tribe of Manasseh. ³ By his own admission, his clan was the weakest in the tribe, and he was the least in his family.⁴ Nothing about his background suggested leadership or strength. Ye...

  F alling into grace... Doesn't that sound like a freeing thought? I heard this phrase in the lyrics of a Christian song a few days ago. It caught my attention so readily that I thought about it for days. It sounded good - even musical, but was it possible? How could this be with all the mess-ups most of us could name in our own lives? What did this really mean? Was it even possible in my own life?  I found the answer to be yes to all of the above. Like me, scripture is full of people who needed nothing short of the opportunity to fall into grace. That is God's unmerited favor. Adam and Eve totally destroyed God's perfect plan in the garden by taking the word of the serpent over God's word. They found themselves naked, hiding, and frantically trying to cover themselves and their sin. Moses ran away, a long way from home, for losing his temper and killing an Egyptian. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery for a few coins, never expecting to face him again. Yet, af...