Deborah.
The only woman that judged over the Israelites; the chosen people of God. A woman who allowed the Lord to speak through her into other people and who boldly stepped into the calling He had placed on her life, leaving no room for timidity or fear. She lived in a time where Jabin, king of Canaan, ruled and where people were afraid to leave their homes, yet she refused to back down from her position.
Scholars have debated the reasoning for Deborah’s place as judge over the Israelites, and many believe that it’s because the men at the time weren’t willing to step up to the plate. Whatever the reasoning though, it’s clear to see the hand of God working through every aspect as Deborah’s story unfolds.
When confronted about the looming army of Jabin, led by the commander Sisera, she instructs Barak to gather the troops and prepare for battle.
Barak’s answer is not a common one.
“I will go, but only if you go with me.” (Judges 4:8)
And that’s exactly what Deborah did. She went with him, and willingly, too. She didn’t hold back in fear or let her gender disqualify her from the task. Instead, she replied, “Very well. I will go with you.”
So she went with Barak. She walked with him in the hard things to make sure he was taken care of along with the rest of her people. She did so with no questions asked because she knew what was necessary and she was willing to do whatever she needed to do to get it done.
When the troops were gathered and battle was imminent, Deborah says something extremely powerful to Barak…
“Get ready! This is the day the Lord will give you victory over Sisera, for the Lord is marching ahead of you.”
Deborah claimed victory for her people.
She knew who was on her side and trusted in His power to do great things. While declaring victory, she pointed her people to the Lord of Hosts who was the One that ultimately won the battle and encouraged them to live for Him before, during and even after the war was fought and conquered.
She changed a people by believing the promise of God, proclaiming His victory over the Israelites, and calling them into His goodness all the while, spurring them to know the only God worth following.
On Friday night, I sat on the floor of my room with tears in my eyes and a heaviness in my heart as I reflected on the kind of leader I wanted to be and how I didn’t measure up to the expectations I had set. I saw all the ways I had failed myself, my team, our ministry…
I wasn’t stepping confidently into the position I had been placed in.
As I sat on the floor, I felt defeated. I felt crushed under the weight of my unmet expectations, and all I wanted to do was stay there. I wanted to punish myself in a way for not being my ideal self or my ideal leader. In doing this, I was unknowingly also claiming defeat for my team.
That night was prayer night. Once a month, the church we’re serving has an all night prayer from 10PM until 5AM, where they pray for specific things throughout the night. This past one we attended was focused on praying for each other.
They placed an empty chair at the head of the circle. Whoever got up to sit in that chair would be the person we all prayed over and prayed for. Some people received words, others images for whoever was in the chair, and then we spoke those messages over them.
We went around for a little while, and when it reached around midnight I decided to head to our apartment upstairs, because anyone who knows me knows that midnight is way past my bedtime. I was expecting to slip out of the room without anyone noticing…but of course, that’s not what happened.
A leader who works here, Ledjana, invited me into the chair. Reluctantly, I accepted the invitation and sat down.
Then they started to pray.
I had several things spoken over me that night. One man prayed that I would be healed from past hurts and that I would learn to decipher the good and bad people in my life. One prayed for me to gain wisdom. One even prayed that I would see myself as God’s bride instead of how I view myself now.
All of these things really touched my heart and spoke into my life in different ways, but none spoke to me quite as much as when Tony, a leader at the church, told me what the Lord had revealed to him about me.
He called me Deborah.
Leader.
Changer of the Church.
Encourager.
Steadfast.
Disciple.
Victorious.
Without knowing that I had been wrestling with my failure as a leader only an hour before the prayer night, Tony spoke into the area of my life I was most ashamed of. Tony spoke victory into the place I had claimed defeat. He spoke encouragement into my weary heart.
Most of all, Tony reminded me of my Jesus that calls us redeemed.
And He never grows weary of redeeming us.
Sitting on the floor of my room was tough, but what would be tougher would be to continue to believe those things I was telling myself and not stepping in to who the Lord calls me to be.
He’s calling me to be a Deborah.
He’s calling me to be a leader of my team, a changer of the Church, an encourager, a steadfast follower, a disciple…
He’s calling me to claim victory.
So that’s what I will do. I will claim victory for myself, and for my team, because when Jesus said that we are more than conquerors through Him, He wasn’t bluffing.
He wins the battle again and again and again and calls us into that victory with Him.
So Team Edifly will stand victorious in the truth that our Savior reigns and He always has reigned and He always will reign.
We will claim the truth that He proclaims over us, and we will do so with faith that even when we fall, He redeems us and is sitting on the throne of victory.
