As I was doing my reading of the Bible this morning, it became very apparent to me that when God calls you out, He calls you as He sees you not as you currently are. This is an amazing thing. God sees something in us when He calls us out, that we ourselves in our current situation, do not see. You can scan the Scriptures and see countless stories of this very fact.
This morning I was reading Judges and go to Judges 6:11,12. In this portion of Scripture, you have Gideon hiding out from the Midianites trying to preserve some wheat, so he was hiding it in a wine press. So you can imagine that in his current situation, it had to be a stunning declaration when the angel of the Lord called him a valiant warrior (Judges 6:12). By calling Gideon a valiant warrior, the angel of the Lord was declaring Gideon to be one who possesses or acts with bravery or boldness and at this very time I’m sure Gideon didn’t feel brave or bold. If you read Judges chapters 6 through 8, you will see that Gideon was in fact a valiant warrior.
Gideon is just one of countless accounts of God calling someone out that appears to be the complete opposite. What has God called you? What has He spoken to you in the quiet of your heart or through confirmation?
There are some lessons we can learn from Gideon. He shows us what to do when God calls you something that your current situation tries to deny. Today, we are going to talk about number one.
- He asked for confirmation.
- He tore down the iDols. (it’s spelled that way for a reason)
- He listened to God.
- He pursued until the job was finished.
- He honored God.
HE ASKED FOR CONFIRMATION
Gideon heard the word of God from the Angel of the Lord, yet he asked for a confirmation. There is wisdom in that. When God starts speaking to you, it is wise to ask for a confirmation and seek out the counsel of wise men and women in your life. God will always confirm what He speaks to you, so do not be afraid to seek out counsel and ask God for confirmation. There are many levels of confirmation but the most important one is God’s Word.
Confirmation through His Word.
God will never, EVER, EVER contradict His Word! So during your search for confirmation, the first place to look is the Scriptures. The Scriptures are the written words of God to us and God holds His Word in high regard. God says in His Word in Isiah 55:10-11:
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth. And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”
Confirmation through wise counsel.
When God starts calling you out, or speaking to you, then it is always a smart idea to seek wise counsel. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:14:
“Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.”
The goal of wise counsel is not always to tell you yes or no but to help point you in the right direction. With that being said, you should always be careful where you receive your counsel. Not all who give counsel are wise. A great way to tell if their counsel is wise would be to look at their track record of the decisions they have made. If someone consistently makes poor decisions for themselves, then their counsel is probably no good. A good source of counsel would be someone who is in a position of leadership (Godly pastors, Godly friends, Godly parents, Godly leaders,) in your life and makes wise decisions in their own life.
Join the Conversation.
What are some other ways that God confirms dreams, callings, etc..
