Happy Friday!! Or whatever day you’re reading this. I hope you are abiding in God’s peace today!

This subject was given to me by the Lord about 6 weeks ago, and today was the day to write it. I am learning to not question God’s timing, and I am really starting to see just how Sovereign He truly is. It’s something I have known, but now I am starting to really know. If that makes sense. I suspect some of you who are reading this have noticed that you are listening to Him more and more and you’re starting to see and hear things you haven’t before. In the natural and supernatural! This is for you, friend. I see you and God sees you. And if you’re not noticing you’re hearing Him more, this is for you too. If you want to hear Him more, here’s how to start.

On the subject of this post, I do have authority to speak from experience. Sometimes we read or see or hear things and have the thought,

“Yeah…but you have no idea what I have been through or am going through. That may work for you, but my situation and circumstances are just too much for what you’re talking about.”

I know exactly what you mean, and I have had these very thoughts before. The last 5 years total have accrued quite a story in Frank and I’s and our girl’s lives. This will be coming out soon! Until then, I am going to write without specific details but with much knowledge on the things I’m talking about. I am just now embarking on something new and uncharted territory for me! So, you get to walk with me in my transfiguration, and I hope you are also always allowing yourself to be clay in the Potter’s Hands. Jeremiah 18.

One thing I am really just actually beginning to know and see with my own eyes is the goodness of God! I have seen His hand on countless areas of my life over the years, and I’ve known He’s a Good Father. However, I didn’t realize just how much more there was with this! There’s another layer of what it’s like to know His goodness. I’m just beginning to tap into it on the deepest spiritual levels I ever have. It’s almost frightening in a way, but it’s the fear of the Lord. I don’t think I ever actually knew what this fear felt like. Solomon in Proverbs 9:10-11:

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For by Me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.”

We go through trials that can absolutely level our lives. Like, there is literally nothing left — not even the rubble. Sometimes the pain is too great that even the smoldering ashes have been taken. I know this type of pain, and some of you might too. Pain is pain, and there should never be a comparing game, either. I’ve seen folks do that. And even with me, I felt like people sometimes said, “Well, what I’m going through is nothing like what you’re going through. I shouldn’t complain.” Many times I stopped people in their tracks and told them that what they are feeling is just as legitimate as what I am feeling. God sees all of us as it’s just us and Him, and we are the only souls in our bodies. It’s a very intimate relationship, and God has tailored a God-shaped whole in each of us that only He can fill. So everything about us is uniquely crafted as He saw fit, and we are that special to Him. You don’t have to believe it for it to still be true, but I do hope you believe it! It’ll make your time on Earth so much fuller and what it was always intended to be!

Regarding the actual title of this post, I wanted to throw something out there. You guys ever feel like a season of life or an experience was totally wasted because there was so much pain in it? Things and circumstances where it’s so difficult to find just one good thing. Or if you’ve been lied to, deceived and thrown away. And you think of all the times and things that happened in a season of life and find out that it wasn’t actually what you thought it was? Or times when you’ve made decisions like a job, a move, a trip, a relationship, etc that turn out to be totally worthless (from your perception, at least). Sometimes anger creeps in, and we not only get bitter and hardened to others — but to ourselves as well. We start to take nosedives in the skies of the “if-only’s” and it’s hard to regain emotional stability while looking back at the past like that. These emotions cause blindness to Truth in our hearts. It causes the good to be immediately thrown out with the bad. Folks, I am here to say God IS good. He was always there, He will always be here, and He will always be there.

I am here to say that it’s time to stop throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Every second of our days have been accounted for by the Lord, and whatever your past holds, so does God. Nothing is ever wasted by Him! Romans 8:28 tells us that God works all things together for good to those who love Him. Keep the proverbial baby and get rid of the bathwater. There are good things interwoven with all of the bad, painful, horrific, grievous, nasty things as well. This is because God has never left us or forsaken us!

Our worship pastor shared a story he had read about a master tapestry maker. This man was teaching his granddaughter how to make beautifully perfect and amazing tapestries like he had made. He got her all set up to make her first one, and by the time she had finished it — it was the most incredible tapestry anyone had ever seen! Many came to see this masterpiece, because it was simply a miracle that she could make something like this with being so seemingly inexperienced. They asked her grandfather how he taught her so well.

His reply was profound but simple, “I anticipated where she would make her mistakes as I set up her loom, and I arranged the loom with the fibers so she could work and make what she was supposed to.”

There are some things in our lives that happen and are absolutely no fault of our own. There are things that are on us and we must own them. If you don’t think you have anything to own, ask the Lord. I guarantee you that in your life there are things to ask forgiveness for. I know my life has been littered with my own shortcomings, but God has made provision in His Sovereignty for my mistakes. Remember, Romans 8:28! He is my Master Tapestry Maker Teacher. He is your’s as well.

However these things got there and however they happened; however you got to this point right now and you’re reading this — you are meant to be. Everything about you, things you think are mistakes, things you think are amazing. Everything in your life means something, including the unity of good and bad and what these things mean to you. Joy and pain. Heartache and laughter. The night and the day. In death and in life. You aren’t powerful enough to change God’s design for you and thwart His plans! He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and The End. He’s in everything, cares about everything and knows everything. If you’re still alive, there is nothing you have done that is strong enough to keep you from the Father’s hands and Jesus’ blood of redemption. Today, make the decision to thank Him and praise His name! I used to emotionally give in to my pain and simply refused to see anything good in certain things. God has been gracious to me though! He has been opening my eyes to things –little snippets– of some of the reasons why things that have happened the way they have. It’s like staring into a picture from a perspective I’ve never seen before, but with His perspective. Incredible!

The reason I wanted to write this to you is so you, too, can see what your future can hold. Regardless of what things may look like here on Earth. What we see with our physical eyes isn’t eternal like the things our spiritual eyes can see by the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like the muscle of the Earth! I heard that said at church a couple of years ago, and it’s stuck with me. Just like what Proverbs 17 is talking about, God multiplying your days and restoring what the locusts have eaten and redeeming time that was stolen. This is for you.

Give this life a go.

Start fresh right now. In Jesus’ name!

I love you all! Enjoy your weekends.

Hello there! I know the title of this one is a little odd. You shall see why it is titled this! I’m already giggling as I write the title.

God has been so good to our family, and I want to share a little bit about our journey as we have moved our Meme into an assisted living this past February. This is my dad’s mom. We lost PawPaw (Hal Abernethy) here on Earth back in 2016, and she’s been doing so well living on her own these past few years. Due to a need, it was time to provide more help then we could all pitch in and give her together at home. My dad and his siblings found the perfect place for her! We are so thankful for it and the staff that works so diligently to care for the residents there. I am blessed with the time to be able to see her every weekday morning. I have also been able to get to know the awesome folks who work there and live there. Win-WIN!

June Abernethy is her name. I was born on her birthday, August 24, and was her first grandkid out of 9 total. The Abernethy Clan has been close over the years. I’m so thankful for my mom’s side of the family as well as my dad’s side. There is more to come about all of this soon! I always joke that I have the “Meme Gene”. This gene entails the love of nice things, nails, jewelry, perfume and a special knack of how to interact with others. I am so thankful for both sides of my family and how I have been molded and shaped to be who I am becoming.

I get a lot of my sense of adventure from my mom though, and a way of just getting into things. If you know me, you know what I am talking about! It makes me shake my head sometimes of the situations I find myself in. I ask myself, “HOW the heck am I even here??” But one thing I do and do often is laugh at myself. I invite you all to laugh with me!

On the subject of birds in particular: Meme has always loved looking at the birds as they do their thing. She always loved watching them at her house when she lived there. I recently got her a birdfeeder and put it right outside her window at this new place so she could watch them. Well, guess what? The silly birds didn’t show up right away to eat their food like I thought they would. She kept telling me every morning how she’s been watching for them. Bless! I started to pray and ask God to bring them so she could enjoy His creation. I also heard recently from a friend who said that when she sees a red cardinal in particular, she is reminded of how the Holy Spirit is always with her and is speaking to her. I absolutely loved that! So, as a bonus — I asked the Lord for cardinals, too! Why not? Why don’t we ask God for those specific things? I know I am guilty of not always thinking they’re significant enough, but everything is meaningful to Him.

Monday morning, as soon as I walked in Meme’s room at her new place, she leaned forward to give me “sugar” (kisses for you non-Southern folks!) and I hugged her. She glanced over toward the window and said, “WELL, SHELL! Lookie there! There are birds in that birdfeeder!” I looked over excitedly and lo and behold — there were birds! Not just any birds though. You guessed it, there were cardinals! A bright red male and a beautiful, bright-beaked female. So amazing! I told her God really heard our prayers! She shook her head and said, “God really does answer prayer, doesn’t He?” We’ve seen them every day this week. So many different types, too. They are eating through the seed! Meme gets excited when she sees the space on the top of how far down the seed has gotten, meaning they are going to town on that food.

On the subject of phone calls. There are many other residents who live in this facility as well, and I’ve been so happy to get to know some of them! There is one in particular who just won my heart over the very first time I met her. We’ll call her Elsie. I walked in her room to see how she was doing about a month ago or so, and I could sense she was pretty down in the dumps. I pulled up a chair and just listened to her. She was facing the fact her children were looking at selling her house, and she was emotional about all of it. She said she couldn’t get her cellphone to work to call her son about something with the contract, so I offered to make the calls from my phone. She read off some numbers from a paper with her chicken-scratch handwriting, and I kept dialing wrong numbers. She couldn’t read her handwriting, and I probably messed some up too. Hahaha! She finally got a hold of her daughter-in-law, and that was that. She did leave messages, and I knew I’d probably get calls back after I left the facility. Sure enough! I had a call come through, and I answered it.

“Hello? I got a call from this number…who is this?”

“Oh YES! Hello! Thank you so much for calling me back. I was helping Elsie make some phone calls. This is her son, correct?”

*silence*

“No…I know her but I’m not her son. My name is Kevin. I am confused about this, but I’ll just let it go. Sorry I can’t help you.”

I started to laugh, but he hung up. “Okie dokie”, I whispered to myself as I drove down the road. The next day when I got there, I went to her room and told her about the strange call. She laughed and shook her head and said, “Oh honey! No, no…you called my therapist! Kevin is my therapist, silly!” Making it sound like I intentionally dialed him. I busted out laughing and just shook my head. She continued, “…and he’s a really nice looking man and just a sweetheart. You’re really nice and nice looking, too. I know you both have families and are married, but it would be a good match!” Hahahaha! I am laughing just writing this out. I love Elsie. We have had incredible conversations, and she is one prayer warrior! I always ask elderly folks for prayer when I am able to and they offer. They are a different generation for sure, let me tell you.

On the subject of wheelchairs. This is my favorite one! Meme’s room is a small hike from the dining room area with a few longer halls to walk. There are usually some stragglers in the hall trying to push themselves in their wheelchairs. Meme uses a walker, so my hands are generally free (other than carrying my giant 30oz coffee mug!). I usually always offer to help push someone to wherever their destination is. Sometimes people don’t want the help and they say, “Nah honey, I’m just cruisin’.” I told Meme it’s like picking up hitchhikers!

One particular morning, I offered to push the most adorable little lady’s chair for her. She said yes, and reached up with her super shaky hands as she offered to hold my huge coffee cup for me. Bless! I told her I could manage both. I didn’t want my coffee ending up all over her and me. As we were heading down the hall, we stopped to chat with the maintenance man. He was interacting with the sweet lady and Meme too, and we were all laughing about something. I started to push the chair again as I was trying balancing my mug under my arm.

All of the sudden, this sweet lady went flying up in the air and the maintenance man said “YIKES!” I realized I had just ran over his foot! He laughed it off, and she looked up at me and said, “Well HONEY…you’ve got to look where you’re going.” Obviously I can’t say I can successfully balance a coffee mug, push/steer a wheelchair and avoid feet at the same time. Go figure.

Meme and I laughed and laughed about that for days after. It’s these kinds of things that just make my world go round. I don’t know how, but I always manage to find myself in these types of situations. Absolutely hilarious.

I have more stories — they are always happening! I’ll be sure to mix some of the entertaining fun in with everything else I write about, too. Be blessed!! Shalom!

Mahalo for coming back! I am thrilled you are here, and I want to speak peace to your storms in the name of Jesus!

Today, it was so strong on my heart to write about addictions. I use the Evernote app to collect topics for my blog seed garden, and “The Truman Show” was one of the seeds God planted there and I believe He will use for His glory and purposes.

With a show of hands (I’m raising mine!), who here knows how Satan has infiltrated Hollywood as a whole? I am not making a blanket statement and saying it’s ALL going to hell, but a lot of it is. So much of the multibillion dollar content is completely void of anything that looks like heaven on Earth. Would you agree? The kicker for Satan is (and he knows this) that God uses ALL things for His glory and works through things that would even seem like a lost cause. Because Hollywood and the people and the various land everything is filmed/created on wouldn’t even exist without Him. He allows Satan to be prince of the Earth and for anyone who chooses to align with hell to do so. God never stops working, however, and that does even include Hollywood.

I’ve recently been on a 90’s movie kick! I want to introduce my girls to some of the incredible “classics”. Hahaha! I guess to kids their age, they are considered classics. I have a working list of movies we want to watch with them and enjoy ourselves. The Truman Show was up last week, and they were absolutely smitten with good ‘ol 90’s acting and cinematography. It was great. We’ve watched several other movies too, and there’s more God is revealing!

For this particular post, I want to bring a very tangible example of how addiction presents itself. It was out of left field for me as well, so just stick with me here. After you read this, I would encourage you to go back and watch the movie with eyes to see and ears to hear HOPE and a FUTURE for you or a loved one or someone who you care about. Even if it’s someone in the streets or the store you’ve never met. Some hide their addictions well and some not so much. Pray shalom over everyone.

Breaking down the characters in the movie, it will be easier to see how each one presents a part in this analogy.

Truman Burbank is the main character. He was selected as one out of five unwanted pregnancies by Christof, the producer of The Truman Show. Truman was placed in a massive dome that was specifically built for this show. It has a sky, roads, buildings, bodies of water, trees and so on. It appears like a normal town. The town as Truman knows it is called Seahaven. He has a home, a wife, job, car and all the things anyone could need to be happy and live a normal life. He was raised there since he was born, and has never known anything different. He had parents, schoolmates, friends. All of these people are paid actors, and Truman has no idea he’s the star of the world’s most popular TV show. He’s on camera 24/7, and unbeknownst to him, he’s the world’s celebrity.

Christof is the mastermind behind this sick idea. He grew famously popular because of this show, but cares only about one thing: To keep Truman in the dome. There’s a scene where the camera is on Truman’s face, and Christof seems to “tenderly” put his hand on the screen as he watches him sleep. So creepy for real!

Lauren Garland also starts off as a paid actress working in the dome, Seahaven. She was placed there along with everyone else. What makes her stand out is she started to see immediately how sick and twisted this all was, and she started to attempt to tell Truman the truth. Seeing as every area of Seahaven are on audio/video cameras at all times, she could only get the message about the truth to him in pieces. Christof started catching on to this and saw how it would drive Truman to the truth of his life, and she was removed from the show and fired. During the movie, you will see Truman cutting out pictures in magazines of women’s faces. He was trying to piece together what she looked like, because her face was fading. There’s even a line by some of the show’s employees that, “We removed her and everything about her, but we can’t erase her from his memory.” Lauren goes on after she’s ousted from the show to protest and to speak on Truman’s behalf. The rest of the world doesn’t seem to care. They are absolutely enamored with the show and literally glued to their TVs. There are some who sneak into the dome and yell “You’re on TV, Truman!”, but Truman never understood. Lauren is the only one who never stops hoping and believing that Truman will one day find out what the truth is and leave the dome for a full and honest life.

Christof drove fear into him at an early age. He did this so when Truman got older, he would be afraid of adventure and wouldn’t find the dome’s edges and therefore the truth. Truman had a fascination with adventure, but was shot down by the actors in the dome — like his elementary school teacher, his “wife” even. He was being lied to at every turn. Christof also ousted Truman’s “dad”, because he started to grow sympathy for Truman. He was getting dangerously close to revealing the truth, and Christof knew if they didn’t get him off the show he would ruin it. So they faked his paid actor dad’s death at sea. Truman was a boy and in the boat when his dad fell into the water and drowned — all an act. This caused Truman to be terrified of the water, and that worked well for Christof’s purposes for his show.

Truman started to notice oddities about his life, and started to search for the truth. All while trying to piece together Lauren’s face with shreds of magazine pictures. Eventually, he knows. He doesn’t know how or why, but he KNOWS. Lauren watches him on live TV with tears and prayers for him. Christof and his army of employees start to throw everything in their power to stop him from leaving the dome or finding the edges. Truman even gets on a sailboat and starts to sail to wherever the boat takes him. He’s confused, exhausted, angry. Christof sees Truman is braving the waters for the first time, and starts to create waves, wind and rain on the water with the dome’s technology. He was trying to simulate a storm, like the one when Truman’s dad “dies”. This doesn’t stop Truman though. He’s whipped around, thrown into the wind and water as he holds on for dear life through his fear of the unknown. Even some of the show’s employees were gathering sympathy for him, and the whole world watched as Truman knocked on death’s door as he was submerged underwater. Christof tells the dome technicians to back off the storm controls and to bring the sun back out.

This moment in the movie is absolutely astounding! Especially when you watch it through fresh eyes of truth and how God can speak through even Hollywood. The sailboat’s bow eventually pierces the side of the dome. Naturally, Truman is baffled. He’s also satisfied that his searching wasn’t in vain, and he starts to see the full picture of his life in the sky blue sides of his cage. Seeing his enclosure for what it was is a monumental part of this movie! Christof, recognizing his time is short and his life’s work is about to go down, gets on a microphone and speaks to Truman from the fake clouds of the dome. He starts speaking to Truman. He does tell him he’s the producer of this show, and what it supposedly means to the world. Truman talks to him too, but keeps searching for the way out. He sees stairs, and walks up to where he sees a door that says “Exit”. A scene with a hopeful, tearful Lauren with her hands folded and over her mouth in what looks prayer comes on and she is saying “Go, Truman! Come out!”

Truman looks up into the fake clouds and says to Christof, “In case I don’t see you — Good Morning! Good Afternoon! And GOODNIGHT.” He walks through the door, out of his cage. Lauren rejoices, and others viewers do too. Some are sad that the show is coming to an end, but some don’t even care and immediately look for something else on TV. Christof takes his headset off, the one he used for giving commands for actor’ words, placement, etc. He’s done. Truman has walked away from his pseudo life, and there is nothing Christof can do about it.

I know you probably know where this is going at this point, and the correlation between a movie and what addiction looks like. Addiction of any kind, you name one. They all under the same hellish spirit of hopelessness through control. Lies. Deceit. Satan, represented by Christof, has always wanted to play God. He was removed from heaven for thinking He could be equal or above his creator. He also plays “god” in the lives of millions, if not billions of people. Addiction can look like many things, affects people in many ways and also affects those around a person who struggles with addiction in various ways. The truth, however, is that no matter how dire, hopeless, hellish, exhausting, urgent and devastating lives many look due to addiction — there is always a way out. There’s always a door that says “Exit”. It’s scary though, and that’s an understatement. Someone may be afraid to lose everything they have if they told someone about their struggle, and some people struggle out in the open and are begging for freedom. Jesus is that door. I am aware that those words “Jesus is the door” can sound like a broken record for someone struggling or someone who walks with someone who struggles. This is a lie from Satan, much like how Christof tried everything in his power to stop Truman from finding the door. The fact is, there is ALWAYS a door.

In Matthew 7:7 Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” He wouldn’t have said these things and it be empty promises. He is incapable of lying, because lies are from hell. So, this only shows us that these words are TRUE and powerful and full of life! Jeremiah 29:11 speaks of giving us a hope and a future. Many times this hope and this future look nothing like what we think – but it’s perfect for us, a gift from a Perfect, Sovereign God through His Son Jesus.

Now, who knows what Truman’s life looked like after he chose to exit his cage. In good movie writing, it leaves it up to the viewer to think about. He definitely had struggles when he got to the other side of the dome. The world can be a frightening place full of mystery and questioning. The truth is, though, is that him leaving that dome was real. When people walk away from their addictions, that is real. If people choose to go back to their vices, it doesn’t void the fact that that moment was very real when they walked away from the things they’re enslaved to. It is a process of falling down and getting back up. In my mind’s eye, I like to think of Lauren, his true friend, walking beside him as he learns how to live fully in the truth he never knew existed. That’s why recovery can be such a process! It’s like a little one learning to walk. Eventually with the steadfast love of God the Father and those people who are put in the lives of those who need them — they learn to run! To race! To WIN! That’s life abundantly overflowing, just like God promises. He’s the Great Redeemer of ALL things!

The best thing to do is to put aside our preconceived notions of what this process will look like. I can guarantee you it will look like night and day from what our finite minds can see. There is nothing to fear but everything to gain when seeing addiction for what it is. No matter what kind of addiction it is, it shrivels up and dies in the light of the Father.

I am speaking PEACE and SHALOM to you! Shalom means not just “peace”, but that all the pieces of one’s life are brought back together in the hands of the Master Designer of life. God did, after all, create it. And He loves it. He loves you and He’s beckoning to you or someone you know to knock at the door. It will open!

Love you all!

Bonjour, mon ami! I hope this finds you at peace, with whatever space you are in right now. I haven’t blogged in at least a few years. I still, on faith, kept renewing this page each year. There are many reasons for not only the writer’s block, but for the lack of motivation to write. We shall eventually get to all of that in an authentic way, the only way I know how to be now.

I am beyond excited, however, to be back here! I have missed interacting with you all this way. I got so much joy out of sharing what God was putting on my heart. He was speaking so much, and I am once again in a place to hear Him when I am listening. He never stopped working and speaking to me, and I am thrilled to have the GO AHEAD from Him to once again: write. I love it! Thank you, Lord.

Sharing some of my humorous moments was always a favorite thing of mine, too. I laugh at myself at some of the hilarious things I get myself into. Not to mention, the most bizarre things happen sometimes! You really cannot make some of this stuff up as the saying goes. I invite you to laugh with me at some of my most awkward, ridiculous moments.

I care about many topics, because I care about truth. God’s truth. I learn something new each day! I go to the Word of God, the Bible, to find out what God says in the most amazing guide book we have! Not only is Scripture perfectly incredible — it’s a living book! The Holy Spirit constantly reveals what things mean. I am so excited to continue walking with Him and learning more each day. I also invite you on that journey with me as I mature and grow in Christ.

I love each and every one of you! Even if I don’t know you. The reason I love you already is because I love God and you, my friend, are loved by Him.

See you again very soon!

Gideon. Quickly becoming one of my favorite stories in the Bible. There are so many reasons for this, and I’m going to do my best to write a few of them out in word form for you and to convey what’s on my heart about this incredible story. There’s more where this came from, but here’s what I got for now!

There’s something to be said when the angel of the Lord visits you and says: “The Lord is with you, oh mighty man of valor.” Especially when Gideon has all these retorts of why he’s not a mighty man and why the Lord isn’t actually there in this dire situation of an ever-encroaching enemy. He sounds so much like so many Christians today, actually! (Myself included at times, truth be told.) He thinks since he’s from a small tribe and seemingly insignificant compared to them, he’s got nothin’ on those other guys. He’s still someone who loves the Lord, but he sure doesn’t see himself full of valor. He probably thought: “You’re kidding, right?” Here’s what he said back to the angel:

“Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us to the hand of Midian.”

Let’s paraphrase this in 2018 verbiage: “PLEASE, sir. Stop RIGHT there. There is absolutely NO way God is with us in this hell-on-earth we’re enduring…why in the world would God bring us this far to just leave us hanging?”

Don’t let the title of this post be misleading. A lot of you already “know” the story of Gideon. (Well…you think you do.) And if you do, instead of being puffed up because you’re aware of how the story goes–ask the Lord for a new revelation on it instead of dead-ending in all of your humanly knowledge. Often times, our knowledge of something is like a guardrail that keeps us from the land-of-the-living versus the “well-traveled road”. The well-traveled road is for sure a safe bet to travel on, but…is it the road of truth or just the comfortable one? Most likely, in this day and time–the road of truth is NOT the “comfortable” one.

This Sunday, our church got a fantastic word from our pastor. Most of the message was based out of Judges 6, and how Gideon put limitations on himself based on…well, himself. And his army. Why he didn’t have enough manpower to fight the Midianites once his army was whittled down by the word of the Lord from 22,000 men to a mere 300 men and why he basically just wasn’t fit for the job. It’s a fascinating story: full of fleeces and unleavened bread and angels and armies. Of Gideon “just making sure” that his army-shrinking commandments were from God. Especially in Judges 6:36-40! My favorite: Of God’s awareness of the need-to-know state that we have. And His response to us. We’re so needy, aren’t we? Can’t really blame the dude though…I mean, let’s get real. He was basically called out from an angel while hiding out in a winepress, and all of the sudden he’s leading an army of 300 men against an army that is described as being like “locust in number”. Yeah. Don’t judge him too quickly! I have personally found and reluctantly admitted some similarities between “the early” Gideon and myself. I think you could probably too if you looked! There is literally something for everyone in this story if you go on Judges 6-8 treasure hunt!

God even proceeded this extreme caution of Gideon’s the night before the Midianites were defeated! God told him (paraphrased) “GET UP! Go down and look at the camp of guys you’re about to tear up–but…if you’re too afraid to go by yourself, take your servant.” Haha! I would personally be crapping my pants. So, taking a servant and still going down is an improvement. Anyways, God foresaw Gideon’s humanly state and gave him direction on how to STILL get stuff done, but how to side-step his fear with courage. I LOVE that.

The ultimate ‘wind in the sails moment’ in this ENTIRE story is undoubtedly Judges 7:13-15 where Gideon overhears one of his enemies telling another soldier about a dream he had that symbolized Gideon’s army kicking their butts. The Word says that Gideon immediately WORSHIPED after hearing this. Can you IMAGINE that amazing wind of HOPE he must’ve felt? He’s come all this way for all this time and asking all these questions of God…and here’s proof from a dream that one of his enemies had that this is all REAL TIME.

And when our curiosity is met with answers, we sometimes still need proof to move on to the next step–God provided it for Gideon when he asked. He literally did every time. God saw. Like Gideon, we too, can get in the thick of things while moving mountains and inching forward to take back the land that was promised to us. There were little nuggets and signs all along the way to Gideon that he was on the right track. But Gideon always always asked. It’s important for us to realize, too, that while we’re moving our own mountains in life–it’s ok to ask the Lord: “Hey God. Give me a sign. You still here? This is still You, right?” He’s not exhausted by these requests, trust me. The only thing we need to guard against is unbelief. {Unbelief is a hard substance that cracks when it’s in the molding process. Belief is moldable clay that can make beautiful things.}

Also, another thing I LOVE about this story is how Gideon made himself “milestones” when He did hear from the Lord. When He asked for confirmation that he was on the right track, and heard–he built alters to go back to and remember God’s faithfulness in His answers to him. What would our walks with the Lord look like if we had all our points of references marked when we TRULY heard from the Lord? Some of you may have all these moments written out, and I wanna be just like you when I grow up! Not to mention, the whole reason God whittled down the army’s numbers from 22,0000 to 300 is so we HAD to say: “That was the Lord!” There was no mistaken. When we have these “milestones” in our own lives, let’s remember what God has done and notate His goodness, protection and faithfulness over us.

The last huge nugget from this story that I have have for now is taking our own limitations off of God. He certainly doesn’t abide under our man-made ceilings. He’s trying to rip them off of us, and at the same time it seems we’re trying to build our roof over God. How ’bout we all agree right here and RIGHT now that this is asinine? He’s a limit-less God with a perfect plan. WE are humankind. We don’t come without our baggage of limitations. We seem to be married to our limitations sometimes, though. Let’s just not expect God to operate under our ceiling of limits! He won’t do it! He CAN’T do it. Have you thought about how big He is lately?

Welp, Fellow Gideons, that’s what I have for now. Still chewing on so many morsels from this table of goodness that is the Word of God. More to come later I am sure of it.

Happy Midianite-slaying to you!