Well, we are 2 months into the new year and usually by now I have long forgotten my resolutions or have chosen to block them out of my mind if they had anything to do with diet or exercise! But this year is different. This year I made some resolutions at our first GNO of the year (along with some of you) that I am trying hard to keep top of mind.
At our kickoff event for FTGI this year I challenged everyone attending to make 5 resolutions for this year that will keep us moving towards our dreams and will help us to live a fulfilling and successful life. I would love to extend that challenge to anyone reading that may not have attended and encourage you to come on this journey with us. At the end of the evening last month we each made these declarations....
1. I resolve to see myself as God sees me
2. I resolve to lighten up!
3. I resolve to refuse to settle.
4. I resolve to be fearless
5. I resolve to never give up!
The message of the evening was inspired by the story of Gideon. I have spent a lot of time entrenched in his story because I can relate to him on so many levels. When we are introduced to Gideon in Judges 6:11 we find Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press. He was trying to stay hidden because his tribe was under constant attack. He was not able to do his job in the normal way because if he did he would be an open target for his enemies.
Have you ever been there? You have a job to do (one you thought God asked you to do) but circumstances just keep making it more and more difficult to accomplish! I have definitely been there. I remember even recently having a little bit of an attitude with God ( I know that's shocking) because I was trying to carry out a task I knew He had called me to do but it seemed like all the powers in the universe were coming against it making it more and more difficult. I just felt like giving up. I knew it was not ultimately what I wanted to be doing forever but I did believe that it was what He was asking me to do in that season. So I found myself asking..."if I am here, doing what you clearly told me I should be doing then why is it SO hard?" (hence, the attitude) But reading Gideon's story encouraged me. I don't want to read into the text too much but I find it interesting that it was during Gideon's time of persistence under persecution that the angel of the Lord showed up out of nowhere.
There, in the drudgery of the work at hand...work I'm sure he didn't feel like was his ultimate calling in life...work that he probably would have traded places with anyone for... there, in that place of faithful persistence God finds him. But here's the thing. God did not just accidentally stumble upon him. He actually saw him all along. I believe that God was developing character in him that would sustain him for the much larger assignment God had for him. It is often during those character proving times of hardship that God is preparing you for a bigger assignment. But we want to just get through it as fast as we can. I know I do.
But the angel of the Lord showed up and when he addressed Gideon he said, "The Lord is with you mighty warrior." MIGHTY WARRIOR? Gideon must have looked around as if to say, "Are you talking to me?" Gideon did not see himself as a mighty warrior. In fact he let the angel know that he was, in fact, the weakest in his clan and not only that...his clan is the weakest of all the clans. The weakest of the weak! And yet God saw something that Gideon himself could not see. God knew the plans He had for Gideon. He knew that His power would be perfected in Gideon's weakness.
So Gideon had to start seeing himself as God saw him. If he continued seeing himself with his own eyes he would see only his weakness, his fragility and his faults. He would never have been able to accomplish the big assignment that was waiting for him. And the salvation of a nation depended on it.
It is so important for you to start seeing yourself as God sees you not only for your sake but for the sake of the lives that you will impact when you are living the life you were created to live.
For the next few weeks I would love to have the privilege of encouraging you on your journey to live by these resolutions. I'm going to take one resolution a week and expound on them and see where it takes us...
I would love to interact with you so feel free to leave your comments.
Lots of love fellow warriors!!
The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Judges 6:11-12
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