The LORD said to Gideon, "You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that
Hey Gideon,
You are one of my favorite people in the Bible. Why you ask? Well I’ll tell you. It’s because I have on many occasions been just like you.
I’ve heard many a pastor talk about you as if you are a coward. After all you were threshing wheat in a wine cellar. But I feel you man. The Midianites had plundered everything from the land. You were just trying to make sure you’d have some food to eat.
When the angel of God came to you and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” that must have been crazy. I too probably would have looked over my shoulder to see who he was talking to.
And when you were so unsure of yourself that you politely asked the angel of God to show you not one sign but TWO miraculous signs… whew… I was feeling that too. I’ve asked God to do the same for me way more than two times. And God has patiently shown me the signs.
I think that God always shows us the signs anyways. It’s just that sometimes it is hard for us to see them. Maybe we don’t see them because we aren’t looking for them. Often times I think we don’t see them because we are running from them.
And you kinda did that too for a second. But that doesn’t matter. In the end, you turned and faced it and became the mighty warrior that the angel said you were.
And that’s what really matters anyway right? It’s all about how we end up; not so much about how we got there. Yes the journey does teach us and help us become who we are. We may make a thousand bad decisions, go in a hundred wrong directions, or run away from our purpose like it were a plague. But when we say “yes” all of that goes out the window.
When we say yes, God says yes back.
And then all of the sudden we don’t need tens of thousands of troops to win our wars. We can go to battle with the few people that God has put at our sides and defeat any foes in our path.
Today’s
Dear Clarence (the III),
ReplyDeleteI'm really feelin these open letters to people in the bible. I think too often we refer to these biblical figures as 'characters' almost as if they are fictional or never existed. What a HUGE mistake on our part! When we do this, its like giving ourselves a pass or excuse to not attempt to attain the same faith or accomplishments as did these men and women. When you write to Gideon, Moses, Peter... you remind us all that these men and women were just that, men and women. Their faith in God and Jesus strengthened them to achieve what at times seemed like the impossible. If they can do it, so can we!
So thank you for that reminder... "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13) ;)
we can all achieve GREATNESS through our Lord!!!
Sincerely,
Jasmine (the I)