Forty Days of Prayer - Day 14
Thursday, January 23
Day Fourteen
Judges 6:12-18
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
As I was reading this scripture, I realized how much like Gideon I can sometimes be in my feelings of inadequacy. God calls each of us at various points in our lives to do things for Him, for His Kingdom. How often have I shied away from doing things outside my comfort zone because I thought I wasn’t good enough, spiritual enough, or as capable as someone else?
When God calls us to do something for Him, He sees our untapped potential. Notice that God addressed Gideon as a “mighty warrior.” You see, God doesn’t look at us the way we are now, or the way we look at ourselves…struggling with our insecurities. He sees all that we can be when we move forward choosing faith in Him over the fear of our own limiting beliefs.
Gideon never imagined he could ever be a mighty warrior. His first reaction was to give God lame excuses as to why he couldn’t be a warrior: He considered himself the least in his family, and his family belonged to the weakest of the Israelite clans. Gideon had no claim to fame and wasn’t trying to pretend he had. He thought he was being realistic when he resisted God’s calling.
The problem was that Gideon could only see his present circumstances. He was focused on the painful details around him that were keeping him chained to mediocrity. Sometimes we get so caught up in our present circumstances, that we are oblivious to our ability to change them if we partner with God. God forced Gideon to stop looking at external problems and refocus on the internal gifts and abilities that God had already put in him. Apparently, God wasn’t a bit fazed by Gideon babbling on about how insignificant and unworthy he was to accomplish anything for God. God just reassured Gideon, saying, “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” I am sure that this forced Gideon to realize that God saw something special in him that he couldn’t see in himself. He began to think that if God was so sure that an ordinary guy like him could actually do this, then maybe, just maybe, he should believe it too!
Like Gideon, we forget that God doesn’t see our inadequacies. God sees us as our victorious redeemed self—capable, able, and fearless. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross hides all our past sins and failures from His eyes. God instead sees us through the lens of our Savior who cleansed us and is lifting us up to become our greatest self. If we can begin to see ourselves through God’s eyes, the way God saw Gideon as a “mighty warrior,” then God’s perspective will become a self-fulfilling prophecy in our lives.
Let me ask you, Sister - If you could hear God address you like Gideon did in Judges 6:12, what would you long to hear Him say? Let’s claim those words today and move forward with big, bold audacious prayers believing in Him.
Additional Reading: Isaiah 55:8, Romans 8:37, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 10:35-36
Lord, Thank you for seeing me as the person You intend for me to be instead of the way I see myself. Thank you that all my sins and mistakes — past, present and future — are hidden by the blood of Jesus, and I stand redeemed before You. I don’t have to feel inadequate or unworthy anymore. Let me start seeing myself through Your eyes so that I can, like Gideon, become a mighty warrior or a __________and accomplish the mission you have called me to do. Remind me when I feel weak that Your spirit fills me with Your power! In Jesus’ name and for the Father’s glory. Amen.
