What’s Your Winepress?
By Karis Taylor
Attending an online school can make it difficult to meet people and experience that feeling of being a part of the student body like you get at a brick and mortar school. But NorthStar provides a lot of easily accessible, not to mention, great ways for students to get plugged-in. One of these ways is through the NSA Connects. NSA Connects are great ways to put faces to the work you read in discussions, meet people, and interact with the students in your classes. There are multiple new Connects topics that are added each year. One of the topics added to the 2020-21 school year was the High School Student Chapel. High School Chapel takes place on the first Thursday of every month at 9:00 am and 8:00 pm. Here, high school students gather and can get to know each other while diving into studying God’s Word together. This month’s chapel, on October 1, was all about how God sees us, knows us, and calls us to a greater purpose. Through the story of Gideon in Judges 6:1-24, I was personally convicted of how much I rely on myself instead of residing and trusting in the Ultimate Provider.
When we first meet Gideon, he’s hiding in a winepress. How courageous of him, right? The angel of The LORD came to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” “Mighty warrior” (Judg 6:12) Didn’t we just clarify that Gideon comes from nothing and is currently hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat….seems contradictory, doesn’t it? But the LORD is intentional, and His wording is no mistake. Gideon’s response to this greeting of acclamation is, “Pardon me, my LORD, but if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judg 6:13) The audacity of this kid, am I right? What’s happened is Gideon is so fearful of the Midianites, he is hiding, he’s afraid, he doesn’t have faith, and he doesn’t understand that the LORD is already victorious over the Midianites. But despite Gideon’s lack of faith, response to fear, and his accusation towards God, God saw Gideon in that winepress and called him a mighty warrior.
After Gideon’s rather accusatory reply, the LORD didn’t scold Gideon’s question. Instead, God replied with, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judg 6:14) And after Gideon, again, denies his capability, God says, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judg 6:16) Gideon’s lack of faith wasn’t because of something God had done, it came from Gideon’s heart. He saw himself as weak, meaningless, afraid, and without strength or worth. But Gideon didn’t understand that what God was asking of him wasn’t supposed to stem from his own humanity but rather from God’s divine strength.
Gideon’s story can sound pretty familiar and that’s because we are Gideon. We doubt God, His nature, and His love and as a result, we lose faith. But when we lose faith, God remains faithful. The thing is, God doesn’t find us in our hiding spot to ask, “What do you think you’re doing?” or tell us that we need to get our act together, and most importantly, He doesn’t see us differently in our hiding spot. In our weakness, God’s strength is perfected; and even though we run and hide, God seeks us out when we are in our winepress. God can work through anyone, even timid believers with little faith. God can work with our faith no matter how small it is, but He needs us to trust in Him. God knows us fully and still loves us.
Gideon is one of the characters in the Bible that we can be quick to read about and not think anything of. Or we can be paying close attention but still be quick to see Gideon as a coward, a timid leader, and someone who doesn’t have faith in the LORD. But the closer we look and the more we open our eyes to see, Gideon looks a lot like us. We run and hide in things that we think will keep us safe but they don’t. Our hearts will never be at peace until we learn how to rest in the Only One who satisfies. God is patient, but He is not dismissive; He is jealous for us, and Gideon is the lowest in his family who is from the least of all of the tribes of Israel, but he receives a calling from the LORD to rise up and strike down the Midianites who at that time were holding Israel captive and oppressing the Israelites. Gideon may be the least of the least, but God doesn’t call the qualified: He qualifies the called (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). When we are Gideon, at our worst, hiding in fear, God doesn’t wait for us to call out to Him, He calls out to us in our winepress. God sees Gideon, knows Gideon, and has called Gideon.
If you have still not attended one of the high school chapels, I strongly urge you to do so. They are a great time of reflection and worship as you spend time in God’s Word with fellow students, for Matthew 18:20 says, “Where there two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:20)
Karis Taylor lives in the Middle East with her parents and two of her three siblings. She is an 11th grader and has been a student at NorthStar for three years. She has been dancing for most of her life and is completely in love with the art of ballet. In addition to being a writer on the Navigator staff, Karis is also a member of the National Honor Society and works at her dance studio as a ballet teacher for 3-5 year olds. She hopes to pursue a career in athletic training or physical therapy in the future.