Mighty Man of Valor
Monday, March 28, 2011
11:49 AM
“The Lord answered him, "I will be with you. It will seem as if the Midianites you are fighting are only one man" (Judges 6:16, NCV).
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 6:16 NLT).”
This powerful promise from God comes in midst of a dialogue with Gideon. The Angel of the Lord, a theophany (an appearance of Yahweh in the physical sense in the Old Testament), appears to Gideon as he is threshing wheat in the wine press, which in itself is a sign of fear. Yet the Lord addresses Gideon as a mighty man of valor. Now at first glance, the superficial reader and casual bible student might say where in the cowardice behavior of Gideon does God see anything mighty. The answer is that God sees us through the eye of unactualized potential. He is calling Gideon not as he is, but by what he would become in the power of God.
This is much in the same way that God called Abram a father of many nations before he ever experienced the joy of being a father. God does not see the believer in the weakness of his natural existence, but in the fullness of his design. God calls things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). God is saying to Gideon, I know what it seems like right now, but my design for you is so much greater than the mediocrity you now walk in. Gideon I designed you for greatness.
Out of fear of the Midianites, Gideon was threshing wheat in the inconspicuous coverings of the wine press. Under normal circumstances wheat was threshed out in the open so that the wind could separate the lighter chaff from the heavier grain. The chaff would blow away, but the wheat would fall to the ground and be gathered. The Midianites would allow the Israelites to sow their crops and then raid them and take it at harvest time. What is noteworthy here is that the Midianites are actually operating as the hand of God in punishing Israel for its apostasy and disobedience. Israel had fallen into idolatry. Yet we find God honoring His covenant with His people.
God calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, but unfortunately all Gideon sees is the natural circumstances that surround Him. God is made a proclamation of power and victory, but all Gideon can see are the physical circumstances that surrounded him. One of the reasons that there was very little if any spiritual insight is because idolatry in whatever form it manifests itself in the life of a believer creates spiritual blindness. You can say that anything you place before God, anything that takes priority over your relationship and responsibility to God becomes like spiritual cataracts in that you become blinded to the spiritual truths that lie before you.
Now there are many of you that will contend that there is no idolatry within the ranks of the Christian faith today. I would beg to differ. Anything that is placed before God, not simply the worship of other God's, but the consideration given to our selfish desires. It is my position on what the Bible teaches is that all that we have placed in priority over God has blinded us and stifled our growth and hindered our ministry. One of the quickest test and dependable test to see where you lie in this situation is to analyze the fruit you bear. Take an objective look at your actions and the fruit that is born from these actions. Now I am not speaking of your self-inflated egotistical evaluation. I am speaking of measuring yourself by the standards of the infallible Word of God. It is simple, how much time are spending doing the will of God in comparison to how much time is spent is serving your desires. Now these selfish desires that I speak of do not have to be inherently evil; meaning that standing alone they may even be considered necessary and good, but when placed before our service to the kingdom, they become evil in that they are detracting from the plan of God.
Any time this takes place, we loose power, we become ineffective in our walk and most of all, our fellowship with God is negatively impacted. Gideon's own father was influential within his tribe and he had a statue of Baal on his land and was obviously a Baal worshiper. That impacted the home in a way that is lucidly visible in Gideon's response to the declaration that he was a mighty man of valor. Yet, God was saying to Gideon, in spite of your waywardness, if you return to me, out of your cowardice inherency will rise up a mighty man of valor. I will take you from a place of weakness and uncertainty to historical heights. I will make your name great among believers for centuries to come.
God was saying to Gideon that I did not design you for mediocrity and worthless living. I designed you for greatness and specific purpose. I see you in My design for you, not in the shell of a man you are now. God is saying the same thing to you right now. Rise up and be the mighty man of valor you were created to be. Stand up in your greatness. It is timeout for sight living; only trusting and believing in what you see. Its time to step into your destiny. Each of us has a destiny, an end that was declared by God before time itself began. There will be many obstacles in the way of you fulfilling your destiny, but the wonderful thing about destiny is that the more someone tries to hinder or stop your destiny, they only insure that it happens. Did you hear that? Every mountainous struggle, every heartache, every disappointment is actually pressing you toward your destiny. Those that come along and attempt to knock you off stride as you move towards your destiny only insure that you reach it. They, themselves, have unwittingly become a part of your destiny.
So I encourage you to walk in your purpose, fulfill your destiny and embrace the greatness. It is time to actualize your potential.
May you be blessed!
Sincerely,
Bishop Rick Wallace
Founder & President
Rick Wallace Ministries
100 Men of Purpose
Support my book The Invisible Father: Reversing the Curse of a Fatherless Generation at www.smashwords.com/books/view/54632 and you can also help support the publishing, printing, and promotion of the paperback version by visiting www.gofundme.com/The-Invisible-Father
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