June 16, 2009 "Senses"

"Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeard to him and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor."
~ Judges 6:11-12 ~


Do you become frustrated when you don't see results you expect in your life? What about in the lives of others?

Many of us possess our five senses. The one I truly appreciate, yet take for granted is the sense of sight. To be able to see things through my eyes when I take a moment to appreciate it, it is quite amazing, isn't it?

However, with that sense of sight, I am hindered by what I MUST see; through the eyes of faith as it needs to be on God and what He sees. This thought leads me to one of my favorite men in the Bible. His name? Gideon.

I imagine there was great distress during this time in history as the Midianites and Amalekites oppressed the Israelites in many ways. Wherever the Israelites sowed seed for their crops; the enemies would come in and destroy their crops and would leave nothing for them. If you have ever seen the movie, 'A Bug's Life', I imagine that is to a small degree what it may have looked like.

The Israelites had done evil before the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of their enemies, according to Judges 6.

I imagine Gideon, his pants rolled up high past his knees, sweating profusely as I imagine he had these thoughts going through his head:
"They are coming! What am I going to do? How am I going to hide all this wheat? If they see that I'm trying to hide this crop, I will surely die." Gideon's thoughts of fear overtaking him as he was in the winepress stomping the wheat with all his might.

Looking at Gideon through natural eyes I would say, "Poor guy, he doesn't have a chance!" Yet, an angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor and courage."

What? Gideon a mighty man of valor and courage? Come on! This is the last guy I would think would ever be called and described with those two words; valor and courage?

This is when I got a tiny glimpse into FAITH. This is Who God IS...He is FAITH and HE operates in FAITH! He called forth the potential that He saw in Gideon by speaking forth over Gideon what he was to become. This is key! God didn't speak over Gideon what his current state was; HE spoke over Gideon what He was to become by God's power.

I love this! When condemnation rises up against you and 'speaks' to you by reminding you of your past sins, current sins, failures, mishaps, misfortunes...God speaks forth over your life! He speaks what you are to become for His glory! Now the important part is that we believe what He has called us to be. We also have to remember that becoming what He sees in us and created us for is not going to happen because of our own strength. Our strength will run out, however, His great ability is eternal and never runs out.

God created you and formed you and knew you before the foundations of the world were ever set. He has mighty plans for you! However, that plan is not for your glory, but for His!

As we are a RESULTS NOW people; we see ourselves and others for right where they are. This is so backwards to God! We have got to see a glimpse of what God sees. If we don't - we will destroy our lives and others by speaking forth what we already see, and many times what we see right in front of us, is not very hopeful.

Where you and I are at this moment in our lives; does not have be to the 'end' result; it is our process as God is molding us as He has declared before we were even formed in our mother's womb the purpose that is to be maximized in and through us for His glory to benefit others.

When you see dismay and hopelessness; echo back what God sees and that is Victory and Freedom! Our words are tools to either tear down or build up! Let's use the tools that God gives us freely...tools to build up!

The demolition ball and the building tools are right before us...which will we choose?

Remember what you can declare over our life and others, "I am (He/She is) a vessel of honor; set apart and useful for the Master prepared for every good work!"

I can not worry about what I don't see. I must confess it every day, and one day I will see the plans on paper become a reality! As parents, spouses, friends, and neighbors we have a great hope when we look through the plans of God!

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