I barely had my feet out of the bed this morning and the battle was already underway. Ain’t it funny how the devil likes to mess with you real early in the morning, trying to ensure that you have the worst possible day ever, if you so choose to take the bait…
God’s Word tells us to resist the him at his onset (1 Peter 5:9)
Well, I didn’t. I allowed myself to get carried away by the lies and got myself caught up in worry and anxiety “What am I going to do?…Who am I kidding I can’t raise more than $16,000…Can I really do this mission?”
Panic, discouragement, worry and the f-word…Fear. The trap was set and I had almost perished …until the Holy Spirit caught me and reminded me of the Word He gave to me when I was previously facing a similar situation. I heard Him say
“Go in the strength you have…Am I not sending you?…I will be with you…”
Judges 6:14,16
That’s what He told Gideon. This guy in the Bible who along with the Israelites were living under the tyranny of theses people called the Mindianites. These guys were majorly bullying God’s people as a result of their own disobedience and turning away from the Lord. You see they disobeyed and had to face the consequences of their actions but as God is a merciful God, when they cried out to Him for salvation, He heard them and set out another plan to deliver his people (who were way too fond of getting into trouble-reminds you of anyone?) through this guy named Gideon
Gideon. We find him threshing wheat in a wine-press because he was afraid that the Midianites would steal that too, so he was hiding. While he’s busy at work, God shows up and greets him like this “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of [fearless] courage” (v. 12 AMP).
So I see Gideon turning around trying to find out who He was talking about because “fearless” and “courageous” were not how he would describe himself. If I continued on this train of thought I picture Gideon as a scrawny guy, nothing really impressive about him, just an average Joe doing his job not looking for trouble. He wasn’t like Samson who was handing out a can of whoopings using the jawbone of an ass- impressive!
I think Gideon would agree with my portrayal of him because when we continue reading, he had all the excuses for why not him “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest…I am the least in my family…” (v. 15)
Abba, how am I going to do this? I don’t have enough experience, money, support, I’m not really strong or courageous…
And after rambling off my well known list of inabilities, incapabilities, impossibilities and limitations this is what I received:
Go in the strength you have, wherever you lack God makes up- He is strong where you are weak. Weakness and vulnerability is what will allow Him to show Himself strong on your behalf.
The key to being fearfully courageous is to remember that God Himself is with you and He will never ever leave you so be at rest and rejoice in this truth. Abba’s got you
