He Called You Anyway | Judges 6 | Crossroads Daily

If it's God sending you, go in the strength you have, trust him because ultimately he's going to do the heavy lifting. Yeah, and he wants to in you. Yeah, yeah. You're just like, why? Yeah, right, right. Why do you want that guy? Right. This is the Crossroads Daily. No experts, no perfect people, just honest conversations about what happens when the Bible shows up in real life. Hey, I'm Chuck. I'm Jamie. I'm Kirsten. I'm Miko. And today we're talking about Gideon. And it's interesting thinking about a time that you have not been qualified to do something. I'm going to put my mom on front street here. My mom, I'm sure the statue of limitations is over on this because what I'm about to tell you is technically illegal, but my mom is 89. I don't think anybody's going to arrest an 89 year old woman. My mom hates to drive and has hated to drive for years. Growing up in Philadelphia, when I got to be about 14, my mom just decided, forget what the state says. I think you're old enough to drive. And so I started driving regularly in the city when I was 14 years old. My mom would never drive. She'd be like, here, honey, baby, you got it. You can drive. So I know a little something about that.

Like I said, statue of limitations. Yeah. I don't think anybody's going to arrest my mom. Long time. But anyway, have you ever been in a situation? Maybe not that, but you were not, or at least didn't feel qualified, but God had put you there. I love sharing my answer for this because it is a huge part of my turning faith story where I was dabbling in the church world that was like, I don't know about all that. However, I moved to New York for co-op internship with my degree and I needed cheap rent. And so I emailed a church that had a cool website that was close to where I was living. I was like, do you know anyone that is looking for a roommate? And they connected me to the Young Life director in West Point Military Academy, which is where I was going to be doing work. I was helping build their barracks there. And we got lunch. She helped me find a roommate. And then within the week, she was like, do you want to help me with some Young Life stuff? And I was like, I don't know anyone here. Sure. Like, I'll help you with anything. And then within two weeks, given I was only there for a few months, she's like, you want to start leading a Bible study for these kids? And I've kind of always been this way where I will fake it till I make it. And I really do have a belief somewhere in my gut for good or bad that I can do anything if I put my mind to it. This was a very unique one because I was like, sure, go get a Bible first. I think I had one. I think I had just bought my first Bible ever. But I did.

I sat with these kids and was like, so what do you think of this Moses guy? Tell me. They grew up in church, these kids. So they really were the first people to teach me in a way that I could understand Scripture. But I was so far from qualified. And I think if the area director, Becca, if you're out there, love you, girl. If she knew anything about my life behind closed doors, she'd be like, this person is so far from qualified to hold this role. But yet, she still trusted me with that. And it changed my life. Wow. Wow. I'm going to ask you a question. But when I hear that, it makes me think about Gideon. Gideon was literally hiding. God comes to him and says, you're a mighty warrior. Gideon's like, where? Who do you know that I don't know? Because I don't feel that way, right? Yes. And so Miko, I want to ask you, why do you think God, this is regular in the Bible. God does this all the time. He's always calling unqualified people. Why do you think God does that? Honestly, I think just from different examples, I think ultimately, when he does a thing, it's to point back to his glory, right? And so I think that that qualifies anyone. You know what I mean? And I think that specifically, the humble, the person that's probably you would least expect, the person that is least qualified when he tells, OK, take 32,000 men and then

shrink it down to 300 so that he can be glorified. I think he sets the stage time and time again, specifically to do a thing in a way that points back to his ransom glory, man. Yeah, you're right. Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, for sure. What else struck you about the story of Gideon today? Just like reading it and thinking about this guy who's called to do this major thing. And also just how long the people of Israel have been under the thumb of the Midianites. There was a lot. a lot of suffering that had been happening for a long time, and then God is kind of plucking Gideon out and saying, hey, I want you to be a part of making a change here. I have a big chunk highlighted when I was reading through this, because Loki, he's like calling God out in verses 13 to 17-ish. He's like, uh, where you been? Like, did you not leave us? Are you not aware of you turning away from us and you want me to do something? What do you mean? And God's reaction is just like, go in this might of yours and save Israel from the land of Midian. Do not I send you. And he responds like, please, Lord, how can I save Israel? And I think we say that so much to ourselves, like, why would I do this? There's no reason for me to put just myself in a vulnerable situation, especially when I know I'm going to lose. But he's like, no, no, no, like, trust me, I got you. Like what if we do we believe that God has that ability in us in our day to day life? Like, that's what came to my mind as a question of like, man, if I'm like, just going amongst my day, am I believing that God is working alongside me in my work, in my day? Just like Gideon had to be told, like, I'm sending you.

What am I supposed to do? It reminds me of a conversation I was having with a friend of mine and he works in corporate America and he was dealing with some things at work and reached out to his dad and his dad gave him some advice and he says, how would you approach a challenge if you knew you had the God of the universe right next to you? And it was one of those things where it was like his dad gave it to him, but I think it just hit the entire group chat, you know, differently in different ways, where it's like the level of boldness, the level of assurance that that brings. I love how in the scripture, and it's a verse that I always lean on when he says, go in the strength you have. Yeah. Like, it's like, I think that I have to remind myself of that constantly, like, just go in the strength you have. Right. Like, if it's God sending you, go in the strength you have. Trust him because ultimately he's going to do the heavy lifting. Ultimately, he's the one that, you know, that that's going to bring about the victory. Right. But it's just like, will you be obedient and just go in the strength you have. And he wants to. Yeah. And you. Yeah. Yeah. Just like, why? Yeah. Right. Right. Why do you want that guy? Right.

Right. You can do it by yourself. Yeah. I can go about my day to day. I can go about the different things that pop up. And if it doesn't challenge what I understand my own strength to be, then I never have to lean on God who's always with me. But if something pops up like the me, Jamie, how I respond in the moment is like, no, that's not. And then if I can pause for a second and just go. Can we? Like, is this possible? And then that, like, opens the door for me to, like, get out of my own, like, autopilot and go, OK, God, like, you got to co-pilot this thing because by myself, crash and burn. But with you, I think we can land this totally, totally. And again, I just love I love the picture of faith that we get from Gideon. Isn't perfect. Yeah. Right. Yeah. He's got questions. He's kind of back and forth. You know, would you say he's bebopping? Yeah. Yeah. How? Yeah. Gosh. Yeah. I was like, yeah.

I was like, yeah. I was like, just popping them on the head. But God is even in that God is patient. God accommodates his questions. He accommodates his doubt like, yeah, that that's not separate from faith. That's all a part of the faith journey. I love that. And so one of the scriptures that kind of, you know, Gideon shows up again in Hebrews 11, which is this hall of faith we call us, like, oh, yeah, we were faithful. Right. And I love what it says in Hebrews 11, 6, where it says without faith, it's impossible to please God. Like, if we want to please God, we've got to be like you guys have said, leaning out in faith doesn't mean perfect, but leaning out in faith, he loves that like a good father loves when their kid is trying to take their first steps. And I love this last part, it says, and what that means is you have to believe God exists and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him. I think what we can learn from Gideon is the reward of faithfulness, the reward of a yes. And so maybe there's something in your life where right now it seems impossible. Know that without faith, it's impossible to please God. And if you believe that he exists and you step out in faith, he will reward your faithfulness.