Inspirational Thought of the Day:

Sometimes we can get caught up in the wreckage and disaster around us that we forget right in front of us is the One in complete control over it all – and He is looking for volunteers.

Scripture of the Day:

Judges 6:12-14

12 “The LORD’s messenger appeared and said to him, “The LORD is with you, courageous warrior!” 13 Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the LORD is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Did the LORD not bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14 Then the LORD himself turned to him and said, “You have the strength. Deliver Israel from the power of the Midianites! Have I not sent you?””

I can just hear Gideon – I would give him a British accent in this dialogue he is having with the LORD’s messenger. “Pardon me” – he is even being polite, but it smacks of sarcasm to me – “but if the LORD is with us, why has such disaster overtaken us?” Sometimes we can get caught up in the wreckage and disaster around us that we forget right in front of us is the One in complete control over it all – and He is looking for volunteers. When we stop looking to other people for solutions and look to God to provide solutions through us, He is glorified.

Gideon. Leader, judge, and prophet who the LORD used to overcome the Midianites with 300 men …. is pretty relatable. The odds were against him, yet God’s calling was clear. So he asked for a sign – well, more than one sign. And God met him in that place of seeking confirmation and did amazing things through him.

If you are a leader in any fashion (parent, ministry leader, organization leader, boss, team leader, etc.), people will definitely come to you with problems – and here is the kicker – they complain and judge and whine and they want YOU to solve all their dilemmas. But If we try to solve everything and be the savior for everybody, we rob them of the opportunity of seeking God and letting Him be the Savior. Sometimes God will indeed use us to solve a problem brought to us, but we need to point them to the Savior and not ourselves.

Sometimes we see the problems all around us and become overwhelmed, full of doubt and discouragement. Gideon felt that way, too, and he expressed himself honestly before His God. He recounted what God had done for His people, but he was myopic in his view. He looked at his current circumstances and did not look to God’s promises. 

In the moment of gravity when all seems lost, therein lies the opportunity of a lifetime. Will we seek confirmation from God and step out in faith to see what God will do through us? Or will we shrink back and assume the task is for another?

In examining Gideon’s experience with God, I see the same pattern in people God uses for His glory. If you are feeling like God uses other peeps and not you, maybe the below affirmations will encourage you to step into God’s calling for you. Yes, you. We all are called. All on a mission. It just might not be very pleasant at times and might take our all, but we can’t let go of it and it can’t let go of us. It is burning within us and emerges if we remove all the distractions and excuses and listen to the voice of God calling.

• God uses the weak ones. We all qualify on that one.
• We never feel qualified, but God equips.
• God reveals problems to us to see our response. Will we pray? Will we seek to be a part of the solution or just pile on?

God reveals needs so we can recognize the need and bring it to Him – not so we can despair and whine about it. When we don’t know what to do, we are surprised, like Gideon, when he tells us, “You have the strength”. When we feel we have no strength, we are in the strongest place of all – operating in His.

Let’s seek His face, roll up our sleeves and say, “Here am I”. Like Gideon, has He not sent us, as well?

Denise Pass | Author | Singer | Speaker | Worship Leader