Gideon: The Bible Study

Weaknesses stink, and showing them is even worse.  At least that is what we think. But what if our weaknesses were God's way of humbling us, stripping us down to what is important?  What if our weaknesses lead us to Christ?

For years I have hated the fact that I live with anxiety.  I would anything to be that bold, in-your-face kind of person.  I love any person or character from a story that can go boldly through whatever stands in their way.  But I am not that person...no matter how much I hope to be.  In the past few years, God has been teaching me that my weakness is there for a reason.  It is to keep me in line with Him.  It is to there so that I remain humble.  It is there so that I will know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when the victory comes it is HIS.

This summer I am doing Priscilla Shirer's study on Gideon. You know the one...the fearful, scaredy-cat of a man that was threshing wheat in a wine press all because he was afraid of the Midianites.  The one who when the angel of the Lord appeared gave him the greeting of "Mighty Warrior".  Gideon was acting like anything but a mighty warrior.  It is interesting that God saw him as such because he is also the one that needed to test God with a fleece and needed to hear a dream of encouragement to go forward into battle.  Yet, many times the way we see ourselves is not how God sees us.  We fixate on our weaknesses.  God fixates on how His strength can show through our weaknesses.

I am about halfway through the study and have already gleaned so much!  Here are a few tidbits:

{Those sentences in quotes are Priscilla's words.  The rest are my thoughts}

Some boast in their relationships and connections, but I will boast in the Lord.

"Today's difficulties are often the result of yesterday's disobedience."

We all play a part in God's redemptive story.

"God is still faithful to us even when we are faithless. God's faithfulness does not signify God's approval."

"Behavior doesn't determine identity."  {Love that one!!}

Life's shadows can distort reality.

I am loving getting to know this "mighty warrior" better and seeing how my weaknesses are a tool in the hand of a strong God.