The Unexpected Deliverer (Part II)

We are wrapping up the two-fold narrative of Judges chapter four (and five, which is its song-based summary), and it occurred to me how often God clarifies who the "main actor" of the story is. The way the story is written is very intentional—things that are emphasized and repeated are important, and often the things not directly mentioned (or intentionally left out) are important too. And all along the way, it's vital to recognize who is emphasized as the hero of the story. Israel thought of themselves as the main actor. A pop-level term for this is "main character syndrome," where we consider ourselves the hero of the story (while everyone else is a supporting character at best). This had been Israel's line of thinking, and God has been teaching them that their focus has been quite wrong. Israel is not the hero. Not even the Judges and deliverers who God used are the heroes, at least not ultimately. God is the hero of the story, and He is delivering His people. When we lose sight of this, it throws everything off. We make everything about us, instead of looking to Scripture to first and foremost tell us about God. We begin to look at our lives as our own, instead of remembering that our lives are not our own but belong wholly to Christ. In short, we begin to make ourselves the center of the story... as opposed to remembering that God is the center of the story. And it can often happen without our noticing it, which is why God gives us reminders like the book of Judges. I pray that as we hear from our sister Jael this Sunday, that we would be reminded how great our God is, and how wonderful that He works through His people!