IT'S A GIDEON THING!
"And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried to the Lord. And when they cried to the Lord because of Midian, The Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, who said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage. And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice. Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak (terebinth) at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, THE LORD IS WITH YOU, YOU MIGHTY MAN OF [fearless] COURAGE. And Gideon said to him, O sir, if the Lord is with us, why is all this befallen us? And where are all His wondrous works of which our fathers told us, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said, Go in this YOUR might, and YOU shall save Israel from the hand of Midian. HAVE NOT I SENT YOU? Gideon said to Him, Oh Lord, HOW CAN I DELIVER ISRAEL? Behold, MY CLAN IS THE POOREST IN MANASSEH, AND I AM THE LEAST IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE. The Lord said to him, SURELY I WILL BE WITH YOU, AND YOU SHALL SMITE THE MIDIANS AS ONE MAN." (Judges 6:6-16, The Amplified Bible)
Have you heard God call you to some work; yet, you feel totally inadequate--and you suspect everyone else thinks of you as inadequate, too? In fact, you just want to go hide out somewhere, and pretend you never heard the call. Just sort of come to church, sit on the pew--near the exit, sit through worship, prayer, offertory, the Word, altar call, benediction and before anyone has a chance to approach you--slip out the door, unnoticed. It's a "Gideon Thing".
Gideon didn't want to call attention to himself, either. He hid out, too--for fear of being noticed. Gideon thought he had a great hiding place--surely no one would look for him in the winepress, since he was supposed to be threshing the wheat--and he was threshing wheat, only not in the threshingfloor. He didn't want to be found, but God found him--and called him. Even then, Gideon was sure God was mistaken! Gideon thought, "Not me--I am from the worst neighborhood, the worst family, and the lowest on the totem pole in my family--what could God possibly want with me??!!!" Funny thing is, that's EXACTLY why God chose Gideon! If God only picked folks who already have it on the ball, then who gets the credit? It is when He takes the "least of these" and metamorphoses them into a work of art, then He gets the glory and ALL of the credit goes to Him. We then declare, that no one but God could have done this, with these filthy rags!!! However, if it is already pressed and well put-together, then we tend to "glory in the flesh", and say (only with our mouths) that it is God's doing, when really it is the pomp and circumstance of carnality that we are enjoying.
No one could do that, when Gideon came on the scene. He was beyond frightened! He was insecure. He was in the midst of an identity crisis. And God said, that's my man. That's the one, I am going to use to deliver my people, Israel. That's the one, who is going to tear down the groves of idolatry erected and worshipped in the midst of my people--whom I ALONE have redeemed. He's the one who will do my will, follow my directions and judge my people righteously. He is my choice. It is Gideon.
You see, people like Gideon have no choice but to follow directions--once they decide to stop running, listen and accept God's will for them--am I talking to anyone??? "Gideonians" are too afraid to do it any other way, except God's way. They have tried all of the escape routes--and know they don't work. They have already tried to circumvent God's will--and found misery. At this point, they only want solutions--and Gideonians KNOW that true solutions rest in God and His Word, alone. Follow directions, and find peace. Gideonians have figured that out.
Like Gideon, Gideonians also know that their strength is weak, and they have no true power--but it all comes from God. They see themselves as God see's them. They recognize what they look like without God--and know that isn't a pretty picture; therefore, they are willing to follow the command of God, even when it is so far from the comfort zone. When God draws you out of the winepress, into the grove where the icons of idolatry exist, and He says, "Tear every one of them down" and those you call friends and family will hate you for it, what will you do? You can continue to hide in the winepress and be out of His will or follow His will and His Word and be victorious. If He called you to it, He will definitely take you through it!!! Remember His constant reassurance to Gideon: "I am with you", "Surely, I will be with you".... It is the same for us, when we step out of the box, and into His will. The wings of faith, will not fail us. His Word will uphold us, always.
Gideon, may have seemed like a frightened failure early in chapter 6 of the Book of Judges--still God chose and called Him. Look what God did in Gideon--before Gideon saw himself as a "mighty man of valor", God saw it and called him one! God sees in us, what we cannot--and births those things, even before we come out of our "winepresses"--our fears, our failures of the past! He builds the courage in us, by His Word--His command--it isn't about the vessel. Just the willingness, of the vessel. Sometimes, that takes time, too! But, when you choose Him, and His will--totally surrendered, no matter the cost, He does miraculous things.
Are you hiding in your own "winepress"? Is God calling you? Are you afraid of failing--or of the faces of the people??? Come on out--you're in good company, "mighty man/woman of valor! God chose YOU!!!
Love & Abundant Blessings!
Have you heard God call you to some work; yet, you feel totally inadequate--and you suspect everyone else thinks of you as inadequate, too? In fact, you just want to go hide out somewhere, and pretend you never heard the call. Just sort of come to church, sit on the pew--near the exit, sit through worship, prayer, offertory, the Word, altar call, benediction and before anyone has a chance to approach you--slip out the door, unnoticed. It's a "Gideon Thing".
Gideon didn't want to call attention to himself, either. He hid out, too--for fear of being noticed. Gideon thought he had a great hiding place--surely no one would look for him in the winepress, since he was supposed to be threshing the wheat--and he was threshing wheat, only not in the threshingfloor. He didn't want to be found, but God found him--and called him. Even then, Gideon was sure God was mistaken! Gideon thought, "Not me--I am from the worst neighborhood, the worst family, and the lowest on the totem pole in my family--what could God possibly want with me??!!!" Funny thing is, that's EXACTLY why God chose Gideon! If God only picked folks who already have it on the ball, then who gets the credit? It is when He takes the "least of these" and metamorphoses them into a work of art, then He gets the glory and ALL of the credit goes to Him. We then declare, that no one but God could have done this, with these filthy rags!!! However, if it is already pressed and well put-together, then we tend to "glory in the flesh", and say (only with our mouths) that it is God's doing, when really it is the pomp and circumstance of carnality that we are enjoying.
No one could do that, when Gideon came on the scene. He was beyond frightened! He was insecure. He was in the midst of an identity crisis. And God said, that's my man. That's the one, I am going to use to deliver my people, Israel. That's the one, who is going to tear down the groves of idolatry erected and worshipped in the midst of my people--whom I ALONE have redeemed. He's the one who will do my will, follow my directions and judge my people righteously. He is my choice. It is Gideon.
You see, people like Gideon have no choice but to follow directions--once they decide to stop running, listen and accept God's will for them--am I talking to anyone??? "Gideonians" are too afraid to do it any other way, except God's way. They have tried all of the escape routes--and know they don't work. They have already tried to circumvent God's will--and found misery. At this point, they only want solutions--and Gideonians KNOW that true solutions rest in God and His Word, alone. Follow directions, and find peace. Gideonians have figured that out.
Like Gideon, Gideonians also know that their strength is weak, and they have no true power--but it all comes from God. They see themselves as God see's them. They recognize what they look like without God--and know that isn't a pretty picture; therefore, they are willing to follow the command of God, even when it is so far from the comfort zone. When God draws you out of the winepress, into the grove where the icons of idolatry exist, and He says, "Tear every one of them down" and those you call friends and family will hate you for it, what will you do? You can continue to hide in the winepress and be out of His will or follow His will and His Word and be victorious. If He called you to it, He will definitely take you through it!!! Remember His constant reassurance to Gideon: "I am with you", "Surely, I will be with you".... It is the same for us, when we step out of the box, and into His will. The wings of faith, will not fail us. His Word will uphold us, always.
Gideon, may have seemed like a frightened failure early in chapter 6 of the Book of Judges--still God chose and called Him. Look what God did in Gideon--before Gideon saw himself as a "mighty man of valor", God saw it and called him one! God sees in us, what we cannot--and births those things, even before we come out of our "winepresses"--our fears, our failures of the past! He builds the courage in us, by His Word--His command--it isn't about the vessel. Just the willingness, of the vessel. Sometimes, that takes time, too! But, when you choose Him, and His will--totally surrendered, no matter the cost, He does miraculous things.
Are you hiding in your own "winepress"? Is God calling you? Are you afraid of failing--or of the faces of the people??? Come on out--you're in good company, "mighty man/woman of valor! God chose YOU!!!
Love & Abundant Blessings!
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