When All is Stripped Away

The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: ‘I did it myself.’ Judges 7:2

God choose Gideon, who was from the weakest family in Manasseh and the youngest in his father’s house (Judges 6:5). He was so fearful that the story begins with him threshing wheat in a winepress because he was hiding from his enemies (vs. 11). He is so afraid of what others will think of him (including his own family), that he tears down an Asherah pole at night so that no one will see him (vs. 27).

Any yet, only because of God is he declared a “mighty warrior” (vs. 12). Only because of God, do the Israelites have victory over their enemies. God doesn’t look for the biggest, brightest and best. Sometimes God uses the lowly, the fearful, those who have nothing and seemingly are “nothing” to accomplish great things for His glory and His glory alone. When God uses the weak, small and insignificant, only He can receive the credit.

In order to use Gideon, God had to strip away most of the men in his army. His army went from 32,000 down to 10,000 and then to just 300 men. Yet, it was through this stripping away, that God was able to accomplish big things that only He could do through Gideon.

When God strips things from your life, whether it be finances, opportunities, career, or other achievements, don’t view them as though God has forgotten you or is somehow punishing you. He might actually be preparing to use you for something greater than you could ever dream up. You will experience great things that only God alone could do so that others will truly believe not in your greatness, but in God’s power and might. When God takes things away, have hope that He may actually be doing this to build up something great that only He can do.

These past few years have been some of the absolute hardest as God has stripped away our careers, ministries, friendships, opportunities, finances and stability. So much less of me and now I see it was so that there could only be more of Him. Each time He removes something from my life, it’s so that He can replace it with more of Himself. And isn’t more of Him so much greater than any type of worldly possession or achievement? Truly only He satisfies.

Don’t believe the lie that it’s because God is punishing you or has abandoned you. Nothing could be further from the truth. He may actually be refining and preparing you for something far greater than you could ever ask, dream or imagine. He’s working it out for your good and His glory!

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