But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . —Matthew 6:20
Even the weakest Christian can build a lasting superstructure. You may say, “Well now, look here, I am not able to do this or that, and I just feel I must be the weakest Christian that ever lived.” It is worth remembering the Old Testament character Barak.
Barak was the equivalent of an Israeli general in the days of Judges. Deborah, a judge in Israel during that period, was told by the Lord that the time had come to defeat the enemy. So she turned to Barak and said, “Take ten thousand of your men and meet on Mount Nebo, and the Lord is going to deliver the enemy into your hand.”
Barak said, “No, I just do not think I want to do that. I’m not ready.” But then he said, “Deborah, if you’ll go with me, I’ll go.”
She said, “Well, now, just a minute; if I go, you are not going to get any glory; it will go to a woman.”
He said, “It’s all right.”
Now why did Barak do that? He did that because he wanted to see Israel win, but he was afraid they would not win by himself, and he asked for Deborah to go with him. And a woman, Jael, in fact, got the glory, and we have the song of Deborah in Judges 5:24; it is not about Barak. He felt like he was a nobody; nevertheless, in Hebrews 11, when the writer comes down the Old Testament, whom does he choose to mention as having faith? Barak. And I find that so encouraging—that the weakest Christian can do it. The reason Barak was given that glory was that he did not want the glory then.
Excerpted from When God Says “Well Done!” (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1993).
