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How often do we settle for less than what God wants to do in and through our lives? How often do we settle for less because we underestimate what He can and will do? How often do we ignore or forget His promises? How often does our faith turn into faithlessness?

Some of you may be familiar with a book i recently wrote, entitled A Judge Called Deborah. In it i tell the story of the woman God chose to use to lead her people as a judge over Israel to overcome the oppression of the Canaanites. We read in the Book of Judges that God impressed upon her to call upon a man named Barak to command an Israelite army of 10,000 warriors.(1)

We know very little about Barak before this moment. We know he was the son of Abinoam. He was from the tribe of Naphtali and lived in the northern most city of refuge of Kedesh. He had been summoned by Deborah, at the Lord’s direction, to lead his nation in war against their Canaanite oppressors under the rule of King Jabin. The Canaanite army was commanded by Sisera and was well-trained and well-armed with 900 iron chariots. As an oppressed people, the Israelites no longer had an organized army, nor did they have any shields or spears;(2) let alone any chariots. The odds were overwhelmingly against the Israelites. Without God on their side, it would have most definitely been a suicide mission.

But Deborah told Barak that God had promised to give him victory over their enemies. Barak initially responded faithfully by saying, “I will go.…” However, he fell short when he faithlessly added, “BUT ONLY if you (Deborah) go with me”.(3) He had received a command from the Almighty God – the Lord God Jehovah. And he responded with “Yes, BUT ONLY.…” He had chosen to underestimate what God would do and as a result, he settled for less.

Scripture tells us that his “but only” response made a difference. We know that God told him that he would “receive no honor in this venture.”(4) We don’t know exactly what that means. We don’t know how that statement impacted the rest of his life or the lives of those around him, or even the nation of Israel. But we do know something was different. We know that Barak had settled for less than God’s best.

As i think through that story, i wonder how often i have settled for less than God’s best. How often has my delayed obedience resulted in something less than God intended? And make no mistake – delayed obedience IS disobedience! How often have my pleadings, or protests, or attempts to “negotiate” with God resulted in my missing out on His best?

Please allow me to be clear. i am not referring to those times that i have asked God to make something clear, because i didn’t understand – or i didn’t clearly know how He was directing me to proceed. We are to seek Him with our whole hearts and our whole understanding, and we are to ask Him when we don’t know what He would have us do. i am grateful that He is not in His heaven just “hoping” we figure it out. He will make it abundantly clear! And we are to seek Him until He does!

What i am referring to is how we respond once He has made it abundantly clear. The issue for Barak was not that he did not understand; rather, his was an issue of faithlessness. When God gives us a promise, our response is either faithful or faithless – there are not “degrees” in between. And even though Barak saying, “I will go…” was “faithful”, he made it “faithless” when he added ‘but only…” The writer of Hebrews says, “it is impossible to please God without faith.”(5) And there are no “degrees” of faith. Faith is either all or nothing. We either believe God or we don’t. We either believe He is Who He is and believe what He has said, or we don’t. There is no compromise or negotiation to faith.

Yes, Barak went on to lead the Israelites to victory. Yes, they experienced peace and rest. But i have to ask, what did they NOT experience because of his faithlessness? And what do we miss out on as a result of ours? And even more importantly than all of that, how much more do we grieve the heart of our Heavenly Father when we do?

Don’t settle for less! Heed the advice that Mary, the mother of Jesus, once gave to a group of servants at a wedding feast – “Do whatever He tells you.”(6)

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Portions of this post have been taken from chapter 47 of my book Possessing the Promise.

For more information about the book A Judge Called Deborah, click here.

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(1) Judges 4:5-11

(2) Judges 5:8

(3) Judges 4:8

(4) Judges 4:9

(5) Hebrews 11:6

(6) John 2:5

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