February 4, 2008

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” --Judges 6:11-13

In today’s passage, we see Gideon described as a “mighty man of valor.” Yet Gideon was anything but a champion when God called him!

Gideon was beaten down. He was hopeless. He had lost his faith! Can you imagine God using someone like that? Nevertheless, God spoke to Gideon through an angel and said, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

This is another example in Scripture when we see that God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called!

Christian, the evil one wants to discourage you. He does his best to convince you you’ll never change… that your marriage will never improve… that your kids will never come back to the Lord… that you’ll always be sick… that you’ll never conquer fear. And you know what? Far too often we believe the lies that Satan tells us!

But you know what’s great about our Lord? He doesn’t see us like we see ourselves. As a believer, the Lord Jesus sees your potential… just like He saw Gideon’s potential. In addition to that, Paul tells us in Romans 8:37 that “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

If you are a follower of Christ, you need to stop believing the defeating lies of Satan and start believing again who you are in Christ! Start trusting in the God who can do the impossible in your life!

Yes, your enemy is mighty, but God is almighty. That means there’s no problem, difficulty, danger, darkness, fight, or struggle you face in life that you and God can’t handle together.

So stand on this promise today!

GOD DOESN’T SEE YOU AS YOU SEE YOURSELF. AS A BELIEVER, HE SEES YOUR POTENTIAL.