I. Introduction
Happy New Years! It is in this season that we have been trained to make resolutions. Goals set for change. Great promises to ourselves. Weight will be lost. Bills will be paid off. Hobbies will be explored. Sites will be visited.
Here were the Top 10 resolutions for 2018:
1. Eat better
2. Exercise more
3. Spend less money
4. Take better care of themselves
5. Read more books
6. Learn new skill
7. Get a new job
8. Make new friends
9. Get a new hobby
10. Focus more on their appearance
But haven't you learned like I have that most of the times those resolutions are never even dry on the paper and we quit. Life gets in the way. We were too ambitious. We were set up for failure before we ever got off the starting line. So . . . We quit. Quitters aren't revered in our culture so, we craft statements like "Winners never quit and quitters never win. When the going gets tough the tough get going. Quitter quitter pumpkin eater! Champions don't quit unless it is cable!" We prefer and gravitate to movies like Rocky where the underdog facing insurmountable odds never gives up and perseveres to glory. But the truth is quitting is a part of life. So, in spite of the cute sayings that sound good the real recipe for victory and overcoming challenge is we have learn to what to quit and what not to quit.
When I look through Scripture it is packed with quitters and quitting. I wanted to hang out in one passage but there are too many powerful lessons to be learned from the individuals that quit in the pages of the Bible. I want to start in a familiar story - Gideon. You know the account. He rallied an army of 32,000 men only to have God whittle it down to 300. Then under direction from God, Gideon wipes out the Midianite army with those 300. However, I want us to go back and look at the beginning of the story because like I mentioned we love to read the account of an underdog that wins an unlikely victory. However, we skip right past the quitting part of the account and in doing so we miss some valuable lessons.
Judges 6:11-16
One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!” Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.” But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?” Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.” God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.”
In this introduction to Gideon and his interaction with this angel of God there are several insights and thoughts I just want to mention.
a. Quit Hiding
Gideon was not only hiding from his enemy he was also hiding from himself. In order for Gideon to be able to fulfill his destiny and purpose he had to quit hiding behind his own view of himself. God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior. Gideon saw himself as the runt of the weakest tribe. Like Gideon we often see ourselves incorrectly. Our own view of ourselves diminishes what God sees about us and causes us to cower rather than be courageous. I am telling you that you need to quit making resolutions and get a revelation instead. Some of you have been hiding for years and months simply because you can't see yourself any different than loser, lonely, lost, weak, untalented, 2nd best. That revelation forces you to make silly decisions and to be immobilized in fear. The real question is how does God see you?
b. Quit making excuses. Gideon had quit before he started. He was allowing losses in one season to cause him to quit in a new season. So, when faced with an opportunity and assurance that he was capable and chosen he begins to do what quitter do he makes excuses. I'm the least. The Lord has abandoned us. The truth is excuses never lead to escapes or escapades. Excuses only lead to evading. We have got to quit excusing ourselves from victory! We must quit making excuses to evade the challenge that scares us. We must quit making excuses that allow us to disobey instructions that we if followed would liberate us and those around us!
c. Quit underestimating your strength.
Notice what the angel says to Gideon. Go in the strength you have. Most of us would have a much more enjoyable, meaningful, and blessed year if we would simply operate in the strength that we already possess. Too many of us will sit on the sidelines waiting on more strength, praying for more gifts, asking for more favor, desiring greater anointing when the truth is we could get in the fight right now, make changes now, attack the enemy forces now, take territory now all with the strength we have already been given. Listen . .. You are stronger than you think. You are wiser than you know. You are more favored than you are aware. You don't know the strength of the strength you already have because you won't exercise it and utilize it now! Use what you got! If what you got isn't enough step out anyway and expect God to make up the difference when He responds to your obedience! I am too poor to tithe. Use what you got. I am too broken to serve. Use what you got. I am to timid to talk. Use what you got. I am to unlearned to lead. Use what you got. It is amazing that when we use what is in our hand how often God responds with more!
d. Quit waiting on an answer when you are the answer.
Gideon is confronted by an angel that is calling him to be the hero and Gideon's response is who me? Surely you have the wrong person. Surely there is somebody else you can tap for this. I believe the biggest issue most of us have is too many of us are waiting on someone else to rescue us. God is calling you to take action. Quit expecting someone else to be your answer. You take the steps to financial freedom. You take the steps to live on a budget. You take the steps to find the dream job. You take the steps to be happy. You take the steps to be whole. You take the steps to be free! Too many of us are paralyzed by waiting on someone else to be our savior, our solution - if so and so would just give me a gift, if so and so would call me, promote me, remember me, help me. Forget that quit waiting on them when you are the answer. Chances are God won't talk to someone else about you until you listen to what He has told you about you! Quit allowing what you can't do to keep you from doing what you can do! You are the answer because the Answer is with you!
