Power of the Collective: When 2 or 3 Are Gathered

When the decks appear stacked against you..especially when they really are

Every family faces adversity at some point along the journey of life. Some challenges are small, others massive, and yet more still inbetween those extremes. No person or family is exempt from challenges in this life on earth.

There are times when circumstances reveal a stacked deck against you. How that deck got stacked is the topic for a different day. In the sermon, the people of Israel strayed from the will of God and many surrounding countries were able to corner Israel. Without divine protection, they were subject to the natural course of being militarily less capable than those wanting to harm them and/or take their resources.

That set the stage for Gideon to step up and rescue the people from their tough hard spot. Details of this encounter reserved for the live presentation and may get it’s own blog post at some future date (if it does, it will get linked here too)

The lessons to pull from this story is that life can and will stack the cards against you and your family. These are the moments when taking on the fight alone is not always the ideal way to handle the problems.

While it is true that in the biblical account, Gideon did seek allies and help, he got none. And that’s often true in real life today. Many times you may want a helping hand to bail you out or support to handle a crisis and find yourself alone. Those are the moments where turning to your faith comes in very handy. God will not leave you alone. However, you may not know He’s with you if you’re not asking Him to show his hand.

Years ago, I once faced what appeared to be unsurmountable barriers. The economy was tanking, jobs were vanishing, I had started my marital life and wanted to do my part in caring for the union. My better half was working and going to school. Resources were very tight. Then my hours got cut to zero without loss of employment (can’t collect unemployment if you’re employed). My car gave out, can’t go look for more work. Loan officers who were nervous started asking for more payments.

The decks looked massively stacked against me. No one I knew could afford to help me out in those moments. I couldn’t even share my worries, because I didn’t think anyone had the time to spare. Yet, in those moments, prayer warriors came in handy. My lady kept feeding me positive information as well as hugs. I was not alone, even when I felt alone.

In the story of Gideon, when the angel of the Lord appeared to him to give him instruction, he asked a few questions to help him understand the message he was given. Once he understood, he went straight to action. Even with the odds totally stacked against you, still move forward. There is something you can control and do in that very tight corner of life.

In my case, I tapped into my creative side and did little tiny projects here and there. As the economy changed, those connections led to better opportunities. In the case of Gideon, his action led him to galvanize many troops for battle, even though only a small handful did actually get selected. More on that later.

A lady shared online her story as a mom. She felt she was cornered by life and was running desperately low on cash. She kept trying to hold her peace for the sake of the children. She kept creating what she could to give them a normal experience. When she couldn’t handle the pressure much, she took a break to talk to a professional about her “bad mothering”.

After hearing her story, the therapist smiled and told her that she was a super mom. Even while in desperate times, she made sure the children had a warm meal together. Even when she was breaking down emotionally, she let them watch their favorite cartoon and have a happy time while she hid in the bathroom to cry… sparing them emotional worries that their young hearts might not have handled well. While she couldn’t afford fancy playdates, she took them out to the park to play.

When the decks are stacked high against you, it’s not time to quit. It’s time to press intelligently forward. The survival of your household depends on you moving forward no matter how hard the headwinds blow. The next generation depends on you. Your spouse depends on you. It may not feel like much, but it is so much more when you don’t quit on yourself.