Before Iron Man, there was Spider Man. And before Spiderman, there was the Fantastic Four. And before the Fantastic Four, there were Captain America and Wonder Woman. And before them was the Flash . . . and Batman. And before them all was Superman.<\/p>\n
Those are just a few of the superheroes that have become a part of our cultural fabric over the last hundred years. Superman debuted in 1938 in the first issue of Action Comics<\/em>, and Batman and the Flash appeared the next year.<\/p>\n They are all fictional, of course, unlike the real-life heroes who emerged in the wake of the 9\/11 attacks and the first responders, nurses, doctors, and frontline workers during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Such heroes have always emerged in challenging times, inspiring and setting an example for us.<\/p>\n But what makes a hero? How does an ordinary person become a hero, not only in the eyes of others but, more importantly, in the eyes of God?<\/p>\n Long ago, after the days of Moses and Joshua, the people of Israel wandered from God. And then, as now, every time God\u2019s people wandered, they suffered as a result. Each time, they would cry out to God, and He would send a deliverer. He sent Othniel, then Ehud, then Shamgar. Each was used by God in heroic ways. After them, God raised up another hero:<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>Now Deborah,\u00a0a prophet,\u00a0the wife of Lappidoth, was leading\u00a0Israel at that time. She held court\u00a0under the Palm of Deborah between Ramah\u00a0and Bethel\u00a0in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites went up to her to have their disputes decided (Judges 4:4, 5).<\/p>\n Though Deborah lived in a day and age when women in general, and wives in particular, held low status \u2014 and no rights \u2014 Deborah \u201cwas leading Israel at that time.\u201d There is no reference to this being an exception or concession. The Bible doesn\u2019t say Deborah was leading Israel because no capable men were available. The text doesn\u2019t say Deborah was leading Israel under exceptional circumstances or that she was leading Israel because of her gender or in spite of her gender. It simply says, matter-of-factly, that she was leading Israel at that time.<\/p>\n Though Deborah was one of four female prophets mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures (Miriam, Huldah, and Isaiah\u2019s wife being the others), as a leader of the nation of Israel she stands alone in an all-male inventory extending from Moses through Samuel.<\/p>\n Yet she also stands with them, without apology or explanation, suggesting that whatever the world says a hero should look like, God is willing to do what He will with whom He chooses. It might also suggest to each of us that whoever we are, God is able and willing to do extraordinary things with us, for us, and through us.<\/p>\n That is where heroism begins: with God\u2019s ability and our availability.<\/p>\n As a prophet, Deborah heard from God in extraordinary ways.<\/p>\n The Bible says:<\/p>\n She sent for Barak son of Abinoam\u00a0from Kedesh\u00a0in Naphtali and said to him, \u201cThe\u00a0Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: \u2018Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali\u00a0and Zebulun\u00a0and lead them up to Mount Tabor. \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>I will lead Sisera, the commander of Jabin\u2019s\u00a0army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River\u00a0and give him into your hands.\u2019\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n Barak said to her, \u201cIf you go with me, I will go; but if you don\u2019t go with me, I won\u2019t go\u201d (vv. 6-8).<\/p>\n Barak\u2019s reply to Deborah reveals who the true hero of this story is going to be \u2014 and it\u2019s not Barak. It also shows the high degree of confidence Barak had in Deborah\u2019s leadership. He recognized that the hand of God was upon her.<\/p>\n It probably also shows a lack of faith on Barak\u2019s part, or misplaced faith, as he found it easier to trust Deborah than to trust the God she served.<\/p>\n So Deborah replied, saying that she would go with Barak, but that he would receive no honor for the day\u2019s victory. They went together to Kedesh, where Barak assembled an army to fight against Sisera, the man who commanded the armies of Israel\u2019s oppressors.<\/p>\n Then Deborah said to Barak, \u201cGo! This is the day the\u00a0Lord\u00a0has given Sisera into your hands.\u00a0Has not the\u00a0Lord\u00a0gone ahead\u00a0of you?\u201d So Barak went down Mount Tabor, with ten thousand men following him. At Barak\u2019s advance, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0routed\u00a0Sisera and all his chariots and army by the sword, and Sisera got down from his chariot and fled on foot.<\/p>\n Barak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim, and all Sisera\u2019s troops fell by the sword; not a man was left (vv. 14-16).<\/p>\n Soon after, Sisera was also dead and Israel was soon freed from oppression, led by Deborah \u2014 a woman, wife, mother, and hero.<\/p>\n But remember where the hero was found. Notice where God looked to accomplish Israel\u2019s deliverance: He went to a palm tree on a hill somewhere between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim \u2014 because that\u2019s where Deborah was. She\u2019d been there for who knows how long, leading Israel, hearing people\u2019s disputes, offering counsel and guidance, making decisions, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.<\/p>\n The Bible doesn\u2019t say how long this had been going on. It doesn\u2019t say if it had been years or decades. But even Barak, a man who could command thousands, had seen enough from that woman that he didn\u2019t want to proceed without her.<\/p>\n Deborah had apparently held court under that palm tree for some time. She\u2019d been faithful. Maybe it had taken some time for the people of that day and that culture to accept a woman in that role. But she just kept on being faithful.<\/p>\n Maybe some never got used to the idea. But she just kept on being faithful.<\/p>\n Chances are, over the years, many people were on the wrong side of her decisions. She just kept on being faithful.<\/p>\n So, when God heard the distress call from his people, he turned to Deborah, because she had always been faithful.<\/p>\n When conditions call for a hero, we tend to think it makes sense to look around for someone powerful, someone with great ability, someone who\u2019s clearly qualified. But God doesn\u2019t operate that way. He doesn\u2019t need the powerful because He can supply all the power called for in any situation.<\/p>\n When God goes looking for a hero, He doesn\u2019t employ the powerful; He empowers the faithful. We may think, I can\u2019t step forward. That\u2019s for someone a lot younger or talented.<\/em> We may say, \u201cI\u2019m not smart enough\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t know enough.\u201d<\/p>\n We may object, \u201cThere are others who would do it so much better than I.\u201d But God doesn\u2019t employ the powerful; He empowers the faithful.<\/p>\n As Jesus taught in the parable of the talents, God gives more to those who are faithful in what they already have. God empowers the faithful, whether they\u2019ve been given little or much.<\/p>\n Our supreme example of this is Jesus himself. The biblical writer said,<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He\u2019s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do (Hebrews 3:1, 2a, The Message<\/em>).<\/p>\n And again,<\/p>\n While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God. Because he honored God, God answered him. Though he was God\u2019s Son, he learned trusting-obedience by what he suffered, just as we do. Then, having arrived at the full stature of his maturity and having been announced by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who believingly obey him (Hebrews 5:7-10, The Message<\/em>).<\/p>\n Jesus himself, though He was the unique only begotten Son of God, became our Savior, Lord, and High Priest, not because He held all the power of omnipotence \u2014 the power to heal the sick,\u00a0 calm the storm, and raise the dead. Rather, it was because He was faithful, because He honored God, because He learned obedience by what He suffered and did not give up.<\/p>\n Like Deborah, whose very name is significant because it means \u201choneybee.\u201d Not \u201cbutterfly.\u201d Not \u201chornet\u201d or \u201cSpiderwoman,\u201d but \u201choneybee.\u201d That signifies not glitz or glamor or glory \u2014 but faithfulness.<\/p>\n As Mother Teresa liked to say, God does not demand that we be successful; He requires that we be faithful \u2014 like the servants in the parable of the talents who were rewarded with the words \u201cWell done, good and faithful servant!\u201d (Matthew 25:21).<\/p>\n Not \u201cgood and flashy.\u201d Not \u201cgood and famous.\u201d Just \u201cgood and faithful.\u201d<\/p>\n Because when God goes looking for a hero, He doesn\u2019t employ the powerful; He empowers the faithful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before Iron Man, there was Spider Man. And before Spiderman, there was the Fantastic Four. And before the Fantastic Four, there were Captain America and Wonder Woman. And before them was the Flash . . . and Batman. And before them all was Superman. Those are just a few of the superheroes that have become […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311,"featured_media":31152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2605,44],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhere heroism begins<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Where heroism is found<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What heroism requires<\/strong><\/h3>\n