Who are you... in His Word?

Who are you… in His Word? -29-17

Gideon was awakened and called a Mighty Man of Valor, what would you do if God suddenly woke you up and told you He had a plan for you to save your country/ people from bondage? Would you jump up and say “Okay God! Let’s do this!” or would you do like Gideon and stammer and ask; “Who me? You have got to be mixed up, I’m the lowliest one in my family and in my tribe my family is the lowest of the low… surely you are mistaken?”

 ¹² The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”¹³ “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.”¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” ¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire Family!”¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” Judges 6:12-16

We laugh, and question Gideon when we read the story and think to ourselves; how could a man question God? Yet we do it ourselves. We question His thinking when we are asked to step out in faith and give an offering at church because we think we know more than He does about our finances.

We question just what the Word is really saying when it tells us to go and tell everyone the story of Jesus. And sometimes we even question what He was thinking when we were called to be at a certain church, or a certain ministry.

“You must be mistaken, I can’t do that Lord”. He must mean someone else or something else. We want to walk with the Lord but not have to step out of our comfort zones right?

A longer time ago than I like to admit my husband and I were looking at the options of moving back to Washington or staying in California. Crazy that I would think of this as an option that I did not want but I chose Washington.  I wanted to be near my family, and I had plans! I wanted to buy some land and have a ranch and camp for kids who could not afford to go to camp! When we were asked to stay on then as Children’s Pastoral staff I knew it was something that would be fun, but I didn’t want to live that far from my family and I had plans! One day while we were on our way to church I had the occasion to hear a thought from God, “You are being a Jonah”! I was going to run off to the fish-Washington; instead of staying in California, which was my Nineveh. Well maybe some of you are thinking how on earth can you complain about sunshine and beach weather?  I knew it would be okay but I also wanted my way; but I gave in to God because I did not want to be a Jonah. In obedience to God, we served as Children’s Pastors for a couple of years, then worked in various other ministries and areas of worship in obedience to our God.  The funny thing is it didn’t happen all at once it happened over time, I have come to realize that there were things we did that no one would have done the same. There were actually people we reached, my family and I, that we would not have reached, comforted, served had we gone back to Washington.

My husband is a mighty man of valor. He was in the military, and as today is Memorial Day I want to thank him and the other people out there who answered the call to arms for us that we in the US of America can say we live in a free country and can eat too much, and play too hard. We can also worship and live where we choose, or rather where God chooses for us to live! Even if he had not been in the Persian Gulf Wars I still would think he was a mighty man of valor because he has several times just since I knew him put God’s plans above what he may like to do. When he was on the USS John A More he had a motto; Never Give In on one of his shirts. I think it was the ships motto but it’s also scriptural! He uses that in his daily gardening, working his regular job and raising his family, he doesn’t give in to pain, stress or tiredness he just keeps going. He does so many great things all the time to benefit others; I could not list them all.

To me he is very much a Gideon personality because he does not see himself as that Mighty Man of Valor, He sees himself as a simple man who lives his life as he sees fit in God’s eyes.

Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 Corinthians 4:1

That is how we need to be to live in this world. We need to be strong in the guidance of the Lord and follow through on things in our lives that produce the strength in Christ to keep on going no matter what is going on in our lives; we need to trust that God knows what to do, that He is the Truth in our lives and He will direct us where to go.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you today for those whom you have called, both to serve us in the military as well as those who serve us in the Church today. Bless all the warriors out there doing battle for the salvation of our lives, and the deliverance of our will into your hands. Help us to hear your voice today; in Jesus name, amen,

Suggested Reading Judges 6:1-40, 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, 2 Corinthians 10:1-18.