This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with an emphasis on “Focusing on God’s Finished Work”. All week I’ve been giving you examples of grace-cases. These are people who accepted God’s plan for their lives; people who became the men God called them to be. This did not happen because the men were so good, or because they planned so well. This happened because God is so good and because He planned for their success before the world began. Today I will give you another example. This is a man who was converted from a coward to a commander by God’s amazing grace. His name is Gideon.
In Judges 6 Israel is under the captivity of Midian. The Midianites controlled the Israelites for seven years. Israel repented from what led to the captivity in the first place. God knew when the nation of Israel was going to repent and He had already selected the man who would lead the revolution against the Midianites. Who do you think the Lord chose? Did God find the strongest, most courageous and most skilled warrior? Of course not. The Lord sent an angel to a man named Gideon. Gideon was in a shallow pit, under a tree, threshing grain. This was an unusual place to thresh grain. The best place is normally on a hard surface, causing it to be a noisy process. Gideon did it under a tree because he was hiding from the Midianites.
The Lord picked an unknown farmer who was hiding under a tree to lead a revolution. Why? Because selections like this highlight His grace and power. When God uses the most unlikely to do the extraordinary, the emphasis is clearly on Him and He gets the glory. But for Gideon to agree with God’s plans God had to help Gideon focus on becoming the person he was called to be.
The angel called Gideon a mighty man of valor! Gideon told the angel that he had the wrong man. Gideon went on to explain that his tribe was the weakest in all of Israel, and that he was the weakest man of his tribe. In other words, Gideon told God that he was the weakest man from the weakest clan in all of Israel. Guess what? This actually made Gideon God’s best choice. This made Gideon a perfect candidate for God’s grace. However, God had to work with Gideon to get him to SEE HIMSELF the way God did.
God was patient with Gideon. Gideon put God through a series of tests. Gideon asked God to make a fleece wet and the ground around it dry. God did. That was not enough. Gideon asked God to make the fleece dry and the ground around it wet. God did. Gideon asked God for a final sign and the Lord provided it. In the end, when Gideon was finally able to believe God and to see himself the way God had called him to be from the foundations of the world, Gideon led 300 men in a successful revolution against a vast army. The victory came by God’s grace and it highlights His limitless power. But the victory required Gideon to rest in God’s finished work in his life.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- You must see yourself the way God sees you in order to become the person He called you to be. This is why focusing on your “focus” is so important.
- God called Gideon a mighty man of valor. Gideon saw himself as the weakest man from the weakest clan in all of Israel. In order for God to do IN Gideon what He planned to do from the foundations of the world, Gideon had to change his focus from his present circumstances the person God called him to be. Guess what? The same can be said for you!
- God is in the business of doing extraordinary things with and through ordinary people. But in the process God requires the people to die to their ordinary lives in order to receive, believe and experience the extraordinary God called them to.
- God knew who Gideon was before He called him – flaws, failures and all. God took all that into consideration before He qualified Gideon for the assignment. Gideon was called and qualified by grace, not by merit. I can say the same thing about me and I am sure You can say the same thing about you.
- God was patient with Gideon and He will be patient with you. God worked with Gideon until he was able to see the finished work of God in his life. Once Gideon was able to SEE it, he was able to BE it. The same can be said for you. You may think you are waiting on God, but He is actually waiting on you to SEE what He has called you to BE. Once you SEE it, you must REST in it, and launch out in faith to BECOME it!
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016. Like Gideon, I get to the point where I see myself the way You see me. I base my opinion of me on Your opinion of me. I am who You say I am. I can do what You say I can do. I am already called. Your work in my life is already planned. My success has already been mapped out. So I die to the failures of my past, the flaws of my present, and the limits of my future. As You live through me, I become the person I was born to be. I will complete my divine assignment before I die. Not by my power, but only by Your grace! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
