Stealing your spotlight

"Now Deborah, a prophetess...was judging Israel at that time...Now she sent and summoned Barak, and said to him, "Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, 'Go and march to Mount Tabor and take with you ten thousand men...I will draw out to you Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army...and I will give him into your hands." Then Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, then I will go..." She said, "I will surely go with you; nevertheless, the honor shall not be yours on the journey that you are about to take, for the LORD will sell Sisera into the hands of a woman." (Judges 4:4-9)

Barak serves as the hands of faith for Deborah's heart of faith. Both serve as deliverers for the sons of Israel during this time of the judges. I love Deborah (we're friends; she just doesn't know it!). But Barak captured my heart tonight.

{Disclaimer: Forgive me, as I have no scholarly commentaries on my hands and I have yet figured out how to work my Bibleworks. (Shout-out to Bibleworks: It is an absolutely amazing bible language and commentary program , so I end up in tears with the little bit of time I have spent trying to learn it, and thus don't get very far.)}

But just between my Lord and I, I fell in love with the heart of Barak. Not only does he answer the summoning of the LORD's call to him through a woman, he also refuses to go to battle without her. But what made me want to weep was his acceptance to fight this battle, lead this battle, be 'the man,' and do so knowing he would get no glory for the victory - a woman would! (And she does - see verses 17 - 22). Now contrary to what you may be suspecting, I'm not about to go on a feminist or anti-feminist soap box here. Don't miss it dear sister: The honor would not be his, yet he fought anyway.

God is a Jealous God. He wants more praise. He wants more glory. Please know that His jealousy is one of the greatest things that could ever happen to you or me. Praise Him that He loves you deeply enough to care about where your affections are centered. To place them elsewhere after He (The God of Host, the God of all Creation, the Sustainer of Life) has told you that He would be your God is a missed blessing sister.

I wonder though how often we fight the spiritual battle hoping we'll get a little glory? The life-stripping sin of pride steals the life-changing glory of God as we seek to show off our gifts, gain someones attention, hear someones approval, or seek to find a compliment on our spiritual Nike running shoes that have kept us running this race so fast and 'well.' Sister - pride is a stinking thief. It robs you. And it robs God.

I pray that Philippians 2:1-11 would be written on our hearts. "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves...having this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus (vs. 3-4)." We need a little Barak in us - willing to join the battle with Christ and make it nothing but a grounds for Him to get the glory. Make our hearts nothing but a stage for which the spotlight to shine on Him. Make our steps be nothing but hidden behind the path of the cross.

He deserves the applause. He deserves the encore. He deserves all praise, glory, and honor. For He is the head of all things, and in Him, all things hold together. May we sit our rear ends at the foot of His cross if we can't fight with the attitude of Barak. I take that back - may we sit our rear ends at the foot of His cross if we can't fight with the attitude of Christ. For He had come to do His Father's will, disrobed Himself of all glory to walk amongst us in a body of flesh, and was crucified.

Dear Glorious One, make my life a stage for which you can receive all the glory. You are Glory. Humble me. I say 'yes' to walk and fight for You, knowing ahead of time, that the Glory is all yours. Defeater of Death and Risen One, to whom else could I compare You? I love you sweet Jesus...shine King of Glory! Shine!

PS - Jennyhope reminded me that I needed to return to blogville, so this late-night entry is for you :) No wait...I don't mean it's FOR you b/c you need a lesson on humility and are stealing Jesus' thunder or anything, but I meant that I love you and your heart enough to be delirious at work tomorrow so I can talk about Jesus tonight with you and my other siestas! I'll catch everyone up on my wonderful trip home this weekend real soon. Sadly, my camera has been sent off for surgery (the lens is messed up), so I have no pictures. I've missed you girls! My dog is snoring, so I'm going to go straighten him out before I go to bed...