Hope Changes EverythingSample

It’s amazing to consider that we are, each of us, a God-created and eternal being with a tremendous power to affect change around the world… and that most of us don’t walk in that identity.

You know what that reminds me of? A guy named Gideon. We read about Gideon in Judges chapter 6, where we learn the nation of Israel has been overrun by people called the Midianites, who were like a plague of locusts that oppressed the Israelites, destroying their crops and herds and making life miserable for them so they could possess the land.

By the time our man Gideon comes on the scene, this had been going on for seven years, and the Israelites were definitely bowed down under the weight of the Midianite oppression. Things were so bad that the first time in this story we see Gideon, he’s hiding out in a winepress he’s using the press to thresh wheat, terrified the Midianites will find out he’s able to feed himself and his family.

While the Midianites don’t uncover Gideon’s subterfuge, God finds him in that winepress and calls him a mighty warrior.

A mighty warrior!

Gideon pushes back on that idea and the Lord tells him this, which we read in Judges 6:14: “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Go in the strength you have. You’ll notice God didn’t say to Gideon, “Go in the strength I’ll give you.” Nor did He say, “Go and hope I meet you there.”

Go in the strength you have.

God was saying something about Gideon that Gideon wasn’t ready to believe. Gideon needed to see himself as God already saw him, and so God starts off strong, calling him a mighty warrior who already has strength. Pretty cool.

But it didn’t stop there. Because Gideon was determined to talk his way out of this assignment, he revealed how he already thought about himself, which we read in the next verse: “‘Pardon me, my lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.’”

Gideon counters God’s declarations about him with declarations of his own, basically saying, “I don’t believe you, God, because all I know about me is that I’m weak and from a tiny clan that cannot possibly be the one to deliver Israel.”

What a difference perspective can make.

What’s remarkable, though, is how persistent God is toward Gideon. He just won’t take no for an answer, and He even goes so far as to take supernaturally dramatic lengths to remind Gideon that he is in fact a mighty warrior.

The point is: if you can change your perspective and begin to see yourself as God sees you, it will change your life irrevocably.

Because of the pain of your past, you might feel like a sinful failure who is destined always to be fighting off your personal demons. But God sees you as a victorious warrior who can—and will—fight to the end.

Because of the pain of your past, you might feel like a slave to your sin. But God sees you as His own liberated child, free to live according to His pleasure.

Because of the pain of your past, you might feel like a worthless piece of flesh whose only value lies in using your body. But God sees you as a unique and wonderful creation who is worth so much more than casual, indifferent sex.

Because of the pain of your past, you might feel like nothing more than a walking pile of uncontrollable impulses. But God sees you as a person of self-control, capable of clamping down on the mental lies of the enemy.

Because of the pain of your past, you might feel like a boiling pot of rage, constantly on the verge of spilling over onto those you love. But God sees you as a bringer of peace and patience, forgiving others just as He has forgiven you.

The point is: you simply are not what the pain of your past says about you. That pain doesn’t have to define you; God does. He says you’re special. Unique. Set apart. Chosen. Accepted. Set free. No longer a slave to darkness but instead a child of the light.

You are not the sum of your mistakes, your poor choices, and all the suffering you’ve endured at the hands of others. No, you’re much, much more than that. You’ve been extended a hand of forgiveness and redemption! You have been made new!

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in 2 Corinthians 5:17. It reads: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

We can lose track of hope because we let it get buried underneath a bunch of old stuff that used to define us. It can covered over by layers and layers of lies, pain, hurt, and fear, until it is completely unrecognizable.

We have to learn to see it. To stand on our tiptoes and reach a higher level so we can try to see from God’s perspective, because that higher perspective provides us with clarity. It gives us the ability to play out our circumstances so we can think through our reactions. When we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, then our lives loosen up. We can walk in the freedom that comes with being ourselves. We know our identity. We can quit fighting and start living.