Mighty Man of Valor
“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 is 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 encapsulate him. One of the reasons that there was very little if any spiritual insight is because idolatry in whatever form it manifest 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 with 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, stifled our growth and hindered our ministry. One of the quickest test and dependable standards of measure 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.
(O)He said to Him, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." (Verse 15)
All Gideon could see was what the natural circumstance dictated. His clan was the least in Manasseh and he was the youngest in his clan or family, meaning that he had no influence, power, or respect among those God was calling him to lead. His exposure to idolatrous living had rendered him ineffective in the task of living out his destiny. Through the infiltration of outside influences and beliefs, he had been weakened to the point to which he was useless in the carrying out of his purpose. In the same way we have been rendered ineffective in living out our destinies because secular philosophies and paradigms have found their way into belief our system and taken us away from our callings and destinies. Can you honestly say today that you are doing what God designed you to do or are you actually living your life for you. Yes we are to find joy in this life, but this joy has to be centered in the fulfilling of our destiny and purpose. It is in the living out of our purpose that we are to find the greatest and satisfaction.
"What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you." (James 4:1-10)
Where is your focus? Are you serving God or your own selfish desires? The answer to these questions will bring clarity to the effectiveness or ineffectiveness in your prayer life, Christian walk, and more. God is speaking to you in the manner that he spoke to Gideon. He is calling you mighty. He is asking you to step out and lead. He is asking you to resist the mediocrity that has become common place in the Christian walk.
God is asking you just as he asked Gideon, to tear down the erections of Baal in your life. Those things that are representative of all that you have placed before God, He is asking that they be destroyed so that His strength and power can be seen in you. If you have been called to teach, teach. If you have been called to preach, preach, If you have been called to heal, heal. If you have been called to sing, sing. Your life should be a living testimony of God's awesome power. What about your life says ministry? What about your life says God? What about your walk says that you live for kingdom? What about you walk says you are soldier on the battlefield for the Lord?
God promise Gideon that through his obedience, he would make the Midianites seem as one man in battle and that the victory would be eminent. He is saying the same thing to you right now. Put away the gods of your life, selfish desires, materialism, liberalism, nihilism, and all of the other secular world views that have taken over the thought processes of the church in this age. I dare you to walk in the power and might of your calling and then watch God move emphatically and conspicuously in your life. God is waiting to do a new thing in your life, but He needs you to line yourself up with his will for your life.
What does Romans 12:1-2 say about this situation?
"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom. 12:1-2)
Know what the will of the Lord is and then execute the will of God. Paul further clarifies that the transformation from living outside of the will God (which results in living short of His glory) takes place as we renew our minds. What is feeding your thoughts right now? Is it the narcissistic paradigms that are being propagated through the media at every turn or is it the thinking of God?
My brothers and sisters it is time that we walk in the fullness of our calling, in the complete function of our design, and in the path of our destiny. Who is prepared to put self aside and walk into their destinies today. Remember what Jesus told the Rich young ruler that came to him; give away all that you own to the poor and follow me. The Bible says that this made the young man sad because he had much. What Jesus was saying was not that he desires us to be materially poor, we know this by the many scriptures that speak directly to material prosperity. What Jesus is saying here is that as long as you hold anything in higher regard than Him, you cannot walk in fullness. How much of self are you holding on to right now?Can you honestly say that you are where you should be at this point in your life or can you see where potential has been left unactualized?
It is time to stand in the fullness of who you were created to be! ~ Dr. Rick Wallace
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