Hidden Heroনমুনা

2. Who Are You?

I am a business owner. I am a salesman. I am a teacher. I am a banker. I am a pastor. I am a farmer. I am a mechanic. I am a...whatever you do for a living? Right?

This is the usual response when a man is asked who he is, isn’t it? We place a lot of our value in what we do, where we come from, and what we’ve been called. Yet, we are not what we do, we will do what we are. And maybe we should stop staring blindly at what we’ve been called in the past and shift our focus to what God is calling us to be in the present!

Gideon is a Bible hero most of us have heard something about. I remember when the feature film ‘300’ was released in 2006, one of my friends thought it was going to be about Gideon. Obviously, he was wrong. It was about other men taking a heroic stand against oppression though, almost like Gideon’s story. But when we first meet Gideon in Judges 6, he doesn’t seem very heroic at all. In fact, he is hiding. He is literally a hidden hero, and he himself did not even know it. But he could not hide himself, nor his calling, from the God who created and called him in the first place.

“Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!”

This is how Gideon’s first personal encounter with God started. Ironic, if you take the context only at face value. But eye-opening when you realize what’s happening. God called out the man Gideon was meant to be, not what he had been trying to be or not be! Likewise, God calls us out to be the men we are meant to be, not what we’ve been trying to be, thinking of being, or diverting to be. Inside each of us is a hidden hero. A mighty warrior!

You don’t feel like it? Well, you’re not alone, check Gideon’s responses: “I am oppressed.” “I am the youngest.” “I am the weakest.” “I am insignificant.” Our responses might sound similar. “I am not any good at anything.” “I am only getting by as it is.” “I am uncertain and afraid.” But God’s response to us all says, “Go with My strength. I will be with you. You are who I say you are. I am waiting for you!”

Gideon was reassured three times that God would be with him, God would stick with him, and God had a different picture of him than he had of himself. You might think you are nothing, but your Father God is the King of the Universe! You may feel alone, but you’re a brother among many others in Christ Jesus! You may feel weak, but you are strong with His Holy Spirit in you!

You are made in the image of a living God. You can bear the resemblance of Christ to this world. He is a heroic King and a warrior God. Stop finding your value, and your identity, in what you do for a living, how much money you have in the bank, what you do for a hobby, or what you’ve been labeled as in the past. Start discovering your identity in who God made you to be: His son regardless. His warrior in the battle against darkness. His hero to your family and friends.

Remember, you are not what you do. But you will eventually do what you have in your thoughts and heart. You won’t become a hero when you do good deeds, you do good deeds because there’s a heroic nature inside of you. You don’t become a father only after you’ve led a healthy family, no you want to lead a healthy family because you’ve become a father. And you don’t get called a disciple of Christ because you’ve taught thousands, but you will start discipling others if you realize you are called to be a disciple of Christ.

Read Judges 6:11-18 and Reflect on the Following

1. In what things, other than Christ, have you previously found your identity, or labels even?

2. How can you rediscover your God-given identity as mentioned in today’s reading?

3. What do you need to pray about today?