From Judges 6:11-12
To get us unstuck, God shares his vision for us before it is reality. Actually, God may (probably) share his vision while we’re acting in the opposite.
For Gideon, God showed up in his fear to tell him he is a, “Mighty man of valor.” In our cultural context, God told Gideon, “Hey, Commander-in-Chief!” In God’s eyes, Gideon will lead an army with strength.
But when God showed up, Gideon acted in the opposite of a man of valor. Gideon hid in fear of his oppressors. he was threshing grain in a wine vat. Threshing grain requires wind. Wine vats are dug into the ground. Gideon did his job the hardest way possible because of his fear!
How many of us make our life nearly impossible because of the fear and oppression that keeps us stuck?
God showed up to get Gideon unstuck. But not just or him, God gives Gideon his person vision for the benefit of his people. God showed up to get Gideon unstuck so that Gideon could get God’s people unstuck.
What vision that God has for you has you stuck?
For me, God continues to stir up a vision to use me to light up his Church. But I am too fearful to step into this vision. Me writing this is actually my step towards God’s vision in my life — despite me acting in the opposite. Just today, I had to force myself to write this because of all the fear voices screaming in my head.
For you, it could be…
- God calls you righteous, but your past oppresses you. 2 Corinthians 5:21.
- God calls you forgiven, but you can’t forgive yourself. Romans 4:7-8.
- God calls you an adopted child, but you’ve never belonged to anyone. Ephesians 1:5.
- God calls you as someone seated at his right hand in heaven, but you’ve lived like Hell too much to believe it. Ephesians 2:6.
- God calls you an ambassador of his Kingdom, but the obstacles to you serving are too great. 2 Corinthians 5:20.
There are a couple of core reasons why we don’t step towards God’s vision…
- We’re not perfect enough for God.
- We can’t accomplish it in a day.
God does not look for perfection. He knows he can only find perfection in his Son. This is why he looks at you through the finished work of Christ on the Cross and in his resurrection. While my bigger problem is #2, this one will lock me down too. I’ll not move forward because my baby steps do not look at good as someone else’s. When I forget they got to where they are because of a series of baby steps.
God does not look for you to accomplish his vision today or tomorrow. This actually is my bigger issue. If I can’t accomplish it all right here and right now, then I won’t do it. So, for me, I’m getting unstuck 30 minutes at a time. Write for 30 minutes a day (5-6 days a week). I can do that! With every step, God will get me to where he wants me to go.
God met Gideon right where he was. God meets you right where you are. He meets you right where you are so that he can move you to where he wants you to be.
We get unstuck by faith. Faith is seeing things the way God sees them and then act on it. Or in short…
Hear & Follow Jesus.
What vision has God given to your life? What is your next step to follow him toward this vision?