Barak Moments

8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” 9 “Certainly I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh. (Judges 4:8-9)

            How often do we know what God wants us to do but we simply do not do it? Or perhaps we want to add our own conditions to it? This is a great example of a lack of faith and trust in the Lord.

            God called Barak to lead the army to victory. Deborah the prophet was speaking for God when she said, “This is what the Lord commands you…” Barak did not want to go alone. His lack of faith in the Lord led him to ask that Deborah go with him.
            We too like to strike bargains with God. Our faith in His ability to get us through may be weak at times. God had guaranteed Barak the victory, but he still wavered. God had already determined the number of men needed and from which tribes these men would come – still Barak wavered. He never thought about the consequences of those actions – but they were there.
            Deborah could have been harsh with Barak. This, after all, was a direct command from the Lord, “Go…” But she obliged him and went along, allowing him to reap the consequences of his disobedience.
            God worked out His purposes even through Barak’s wavering faith. Too often we can look back at our lives and see God working out His will even through our disobedience and weaknesses.
            My own journey seemed to have many detours before I totally surrendered to what God wanted me to do. There were questions, and fleecing like Gideon, and many prayers questioning the path to which I felt drawn.
            The biggest comfort is knowing that grace covers all of those errors in judgment, all the weak times in our faith, and all of the wrong path we have taken. When we truly love Him, He will work things our in spite of all of our “Barak” moments.