The Upset Euphraimites

Bible Reading:  Judges 8:1-17

Key Verse: Verse 1 – “And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply.”

Key Words: And they did chide with him sharply

Isn’t it amazing?  Here is Israel with a great victory over the Midianites, and wouldn’t you know that trials always come after a great victory!  The Ephraimites are upset that Gideon didn’t call on them.  They felt rejected.  Gideon used wisdom in calming their feelings (verse 3).  But isn’t this the way it is?  Rather than rejoicing in the victory, there are always those who are trying to find fault.  James calls them “fault-finders!”

Adrian Rogers used to say, “If you came here looking for faults, you’ll find them – beginning with the man behind the pulpit.  But if you came here looking for God, you can find Him as well.  It just depends on what you came here looking for.”  I can say amen to that!

Andrew Carnegie felt you develop people the same way you mine for gold.  In gold mining you literally move tons of dirt to find a single ounce of gold.  However, you don’t look for the dirt, you look for the gold.

The problem with so many today is that they are so focused on the dirt, they are missing out on many of the gold nuggets of life.

Howard Hendricks has a unique way of making you squirm on the horns of a dilemma.  One of those unsettling dilemmas involves those who are frustrated with the way others have turned out.  One such guy approached Dr. Hendricks with a list of gripes about others.  Hendricks consoled the guy with his Columbo-type tactics.  He told the man he was really surprised that a man of his intelligence would have friends with so many blatant faults.  The man quickly defended his friends by declaring, “They weren’t that way when I met them!”  Hendricks then retorted, “Then I guess it means you made them that way.”  The fault we often foist upon others can frequently be the result of our own activities, or lack thereof.  As one old cowboy put it, “A man who treats his wife like a thoroughbred will never end up with an old nag.”

So it is with others as well.

                                                                                                 Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞ If you feel as though you have no faults, remember that makes one more.