By Ryan Shaw<\/p>\n
God has called His people to partner with Him in the literal fulfillment of the Great Commission. We find in Gideon\u2019s story a picture of ourselves.<\/p>\n
Gideon\u2019s response to the Lord\u2019s calling as the deliverer of Israel is the very real response of today\u2019s generation (Judges 6:15). “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”<\/p>\n
Gideon\u2019s inadequacy kicks in and he tells the Lord that he should not be the one. He lists excuses which are often the very same heard today. Gideon looks naturally at himself and concludes that God could never use Him.<\/p>\n
He judges himself in light of the world\u2019s values and concludes that he falls short of God\u2019s standards. He isn\u2019t from an important family and is the youngest of his father\u2019s house. Yet God is searching for His servants\u2019 based on a completely different set of criteria than Gideon was aware.<\/p>\n
It is the 2 Chronicles 16:9 search: \u201cFor the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
God\u2019s search is unlike any the world has ever known. His is a search for those cultivating an abandonment in their devotion to Jesus Christ\u2014a surrendered response of love, as a bond-slave to God, who has bought us and owns us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).<\/p>\n
The Lord\u2019s search overlooks a person\u2019s family, education, personality type, natural abilities, sociability, sense of inadequacy, past failings, former sin, age, gender, financial status, physical appearance, and ethnicity. His search considers only the responses of a person\u2019s heart toward their Lord and King.<\/p>\n
1 Samuel 16:7 declares that \u201cGod looks at the heart\u201d when considering His servants. The world looks on all the outer qualifications yet God\u2019s means of assessment is completely different.<\/p>\n
God\u2019s ways are not natural but supernatural. He uses the weak to overcome the strong and the foolish to confound the wise. His global promises will be kept through a humble, contrite, and trembling people in partnership with Himself.<\/p>\n
Today, believers are sidelined consistently because of the same negative outlook upon themselves as Gideon possessed. Too many rely on feelings about themselves, which are quite often deceiving.<\/p>\n
We even justify such inadequacy as somehow equating humility. But it is not! It is self-consciousness & pride which wrongly tells us that God can\u2019t use us because of external circumstances in our lives. This is simply unbelief.<\/p>\n
But the story doesn\u2019t end there. The account of Gideon continues and while he began with a great sense of inadequacy he doesn\u2019t let the inadequacy overcome him. Instead he chooses obedience and faithfulness to God.<\/p>\n
This is our model today when a sense of inadequacy and brokenness is so rife in Christ\u2019s church. We must go on, not in our own strength, but in the strength, grace and promise of Almighty God and His being \u201cwith us.\u201d This powerful presence of God is the most important ingredient to impactful and fruitful ministry.<\/p>\n
Inadequacy is an opportunity to allow God to glorify Himself through our weakness. It is an opportunity to show God how dependent we are on Him as we forsake trusting in ourselves and our feelings and pour ourselves out upon His enabling grace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Ryan Shaw God has called His people to partner with Him in the literal fulfillment of the Great Commission. … <\/p>\n
Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":4946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",600,400,false],"gb-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",600,400,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"audioigniter_cover":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-560x560.jpg",560,560,true],"ppec_logo_image_size":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",90,60,false],"ppec_header_image_size":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",135,90,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable":" By Ryan Shaw God has called His people to partner with Him in the literal fulfillment of the Great Commission. We find in Gideon\u2019s story a picture of ourselves. Gideon\u2019s response to the Lord\u2019s calling as the deliverer of Israel is the very real response of today\u2019s generation (Judges 6:15). “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” Gideon\u2019s inadequacy kicks in and he tells the Lord that he should not be the one. He lists excuses which are often the very same…<\/p>\n","category_list":"Abandoned Devotion<\/a>","author_info":{"display_name":"Ryan Shaw","author_link":"https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/author\/admin"},"comments_num":"0 comments","featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-1024x682.jpg",1024,682,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",1280,853,false],"gb-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",600,400,false],"gb-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",600,400,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-600x400.jpg",600,400,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-100x100.jpg",100,100,true],"audioigniter_cover":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510-560x560.jpg",560,560,true],"ppec_logo_image_size":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",90,60,false],"ppec_header_image_size":["https:\/\/www.globalmmi.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/adventure-challenge-climb-1340510.jpg",135,90,false]},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"