Mighty Woman of Valor

             Dear reader I want to talk to you today of your potential. God has put inside you the heart of a warrior. You are a mighty man or woman of valor. God calls you as you are at the deepest point of your personality. He sees your future. Therefore, he calls you as you will be not as you are. He gives you the hope of you being greater than you already are. He wants to bring that warrior out of your heart so that you will guide lost souls to his kingdom. Now we have a great example of what God can do in people’s heart in the character of Gideon in the bible. I encourage you to read Judges 6-8. Because of Israel’s disobedience God had given them up to the Midianites. The Lord heard their cry of anguish and decided to deliver them. Now Gideon was hiding in the winepress threshing wheat because the Midianites were taking all the food from the Israelites. He is visited by an angel of the Lord look and see what the angel said:

Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Judges 6:11-12

Gideon’s response is:

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Judges 6:13-15

Gideon tells God of his shortcomings. So often do we too tell him of why we aren’t qualified to do what God has called us to do. The angel declares him a mighty man of valor. The angel speaks to the future of Gideon’s potential. God pays no mind to Gideon being the least in his household. God speaks of who he is and that he will be with him. Gideon asks for a sign from God and tests him. He puts a fleece out and asks God to cover it with dew and leave the ground dry. God does this and Gideon asks him for a second test to cover the ground with dew and leave the fleece dry. God doesn’t mind the test. God even performs the second test so that Gideon is assured that God is with him and has given the Midianites into his hand. God did not send Gideon blindly. He gave Gideon a sign that Israel would be saved by his hand.

God tested Gideon’s devotion by telling him to tear down an idol’s altar and build an altar to the Lord and give him two sacrifices. God wanted to strengthen Gideon’s character before the battle he would face. God wanted to strengthen his devotion to the Lord so God tested him. So too does God want to strengthen your character dear reader.

What can you do this week to show your devotion to God?

God is doing this for me right now. He’s proving my devotion to him right now by putting it on my heart to spend more time in his word and with him. He’s strengthening my character. I am so close to my next blessing. I can feel it and I’m so excited about it. It’s ok to test God’s word to you when you’re not sure what he’s telling you to do. Sometimes you’ll be like Gideon and lay out a fleece just to be sure and God understands that. He will answer on his timing.

By strengthening Gideon’s character, he prepared him for the battle and put it on his heart to do as he commanded and not deviate from what God had said. God showed him that he could win the battle with just a few because God was with him. Again God didn’t speak to who Gideon was. He spoke to who Gideon would become. God didn’t reassure him that he could do it in his own effort, he reassured him that God would be with him.

What battle is God calling you to face?

Will you let him speak to your potential and walk out in faith in the calling that he’s placed on your life?

I’m here.

I’m listening.

Genuinely Yours,

Amy Z