When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat - Webs

Midianites. For some reason, the Midianites had conquered my
people and we suffered terribly. For seven long years the
Midianites would move across the land and destroy everything
in their path. They took our sheep and cattle, our seed grain,
all they could find. They killed our men, raped our women and
enslaved our children. In spite of all that, we maintained our
faith and kept on struggling.
“The Midianites would race over the land on fastmoving
camels. They seemed numberless. Like locusts they
came, destroying and laying waste until we lost all hope. Now,
my father Joash had hidden some grain from the Midianites
and one evening, while it was not quite dark, I went near the
wine press to thresh the grain so that we could get some food.
Near the wine press was a giant oak tree. As I looked over to
the oak tree, a man whom I had never seen before stood up,
walked over to me and raised his hand in greeting. Always
mindful of spies, I was deathly afraid. But the man was smiling
and he seemed friendly enough. Perhaps, it was a messenger
of God, but then I was too frightened to ask.
“I stood there quivering as he said, ‘Hello, you mighty
man of valor, the Lord is with you.’
“I was puzzled by this greeting but summoned enough
courage to ask a question, similar to the one you asked me
earlier. ‘If the Lord is with me, how come the Midianites destroy
our land, kill our people and enslave us? What would it
have been like if the Lord hadn’t been with me?’
“The answer he gave did not make sense at the time.
‘Go in your strength and save your people from the Midianites,’
he said.
“I almost laughed, but seeing that the stranger was serious,
I said, ‘My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the
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