Through His Eyes

We often forget (or perhaps, don't realize) that God doesn't see us the way we see ourselves. What we see, in the mirror, in our lives, is but a blurred snippet of a much larger picture, a much greater story. God not only see that entire story, He writes it! So many times, God may call us by a name that we don't recognize, because we haven't gotten to those pages in our own story yet.

This is what Gideon experienced. Gideon was the "least in his family" and his clan was the weakest in his entire tribe (Judges 6:15). But the angel of the Lord appeared to him, greeting him as a mighty warrior, sent to save Israel from Midianite oppression. Gideon was doubtful. This strange man was telling him that the Lord was with them, when they were in the midst of being severely oppressed by another nation. And then, to top it all, the man was saying that he, Gideon, the least of the least, was a mighty warrior, being commissioned to deliver Israel! What?!

Anyone in Gideon's shoes would have been skeptical. Anyone in Gideon's shoes, like Gideon himself, wouldn't be seeing the rest of the story. 

When God calls us in this way, by names that we think don't apply to us, be it mother, pastor, leader, president, mighty warrior, we glimpse a bit of the story through His eyes. God is telling us, "You were called to do more, to be more. You will not always be who you are now. I am sending you out there for My glory."

Through His eyes, it is all for His glory. When we become the impossible, or attain the seemingly unattainable, it is by the grace of God alone, to the glory of God alone.

What is is the angel of the Lord calling you? What is the voice of God whispering to you? If it seems impossible or unrealistic, remember that the completed story of you looks entirely different through His eyes.

How did Gideon's story play out? He and 300 (yes, three hundred) men defeated over 100,000 Midianite warriors, freeing Israel from Midian's hold.

Be blessed and shine with new eyes!

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Love, Faith and Faithfulness

Like many of the prophets of his time, God's word to Hosea changed his whole life. Hosea's task was to go make a wife out of a whore. (Hosea 1:2) So he married Gomer, and she bore him three children, whose names God told Hosea would mean, "God sows", "Not pitied" and "Not my people" (Hosea 1:3-4,6,8-9). Hosea's relationship with his wife was to mimic the faithlessness and infidelity of Israel to their God that had chosen them as a people. Yet even then, God tells Jezreel (God sows), to call his brother and sister "My people" and "Pitied", for Israel would be restored (Hosea 1:10-11, 2:1).

Seven Ways to Pray: 3. Dependence

If you want to catch up, read the introductory post for Seven Ways to Pray for Your Heart, which contains links to all the other posts in the series. Also, you can find Jon Bloom's original post here.

In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being. Job 12:10

This week's word was dependence. Of all the biblical characters or popular stories I could think about when considering this word, Job stood out to me the most (well, Job and David).

Faith to Obey, or, Worship on a Promise

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)

One of the first bible figures that we hear of with respect to their faith and trust in God is Abram (better known as Abraham). But even before Abram heard the promise of God explained when God established his covenant with him (Gen 15:1-6, Heb 11:2, 8-12), Abram was a man of faith, as I talked a bit about here. Now, we'll look at Abram's faith in how he responded to God's call.

Mercy

In reading Jonah 4, some of us may find it silly that Jonah got angry with God for pardoning the people of Nineveh. God had sent Jonah to this city to warn the people to turn form their wicked ways. After initially running from that call (and we all know how that one turned out), Jonah eventually went and spoke the Word of God to the people of Nineveh. And they listened! And because they did so, God turned his wrath away from them and spared the city. Upon hearing this, Jonah was upset that the people of Nineveh were going to "get away" with their sin and the city wouldn't be destroyed, even though that was the entire point of Jonah going to Nineveh!

Covering Up

We spend most of our lives trying to "create" who we are. Making a name for ourselves, acquiring titles, accepting and rejecting labels, defining and redefining who we are, projecting an image (or not projecting an image), and I could go on and on and on with the cliches. Making sure that others understand who we believe ourselves to be seems to be of utmost importance and we do this through all the things we put on: clothing, titles, etc. 

For Such a Time as This

Hadassah, better known as Esther, was a young woman, a Jew who lived in the kingdom of Xerxes in Persia. She was quite ordinary until she happened to be entered into a beauty contest for the title of Queen, which she won. She then became an "undercover agent" a Jew in the palace of the Persian King in whose kingdom some of the Jews were exiled, her nationality unknown to anyone in the palace, and eventually the vessel used by God to save her people from being annihilated in the land of the Medes and the Persians.

Humiliated?

Have you ever been completely and utterly humiliated? Maybe it was when you fell down in front of a crowd, or did something wrong and got called out publicly on it, or something like that. In any case, you probably wished that you could disappear on cue. You might have felt ashamed, small, insignificant, the object of unnecessary attention. The point is, it was not a pleasant feeling, you probably hung your head, you didn't want to look at anyone, maybe you even cried. It might even hurt to think about it now!