When you are facing something that seems too big, or you don't feel qualified for, what is your response? In this episode, we are going to look at three things that we can do in any situation when we aren't sure if God is really calling us to the challenge before us.
If this podcast is an encouragement to you, would you partner with us to spread the message of hope and healing? You can DONATE HERE. Living the Reclaimed Life is a podcast of Reclaimed Story, Inc. An Arizona non-profit corporation.
Have you ever thought... "I am not enough, not qualified, or overlooked"? CLICK HERE to receive a FREE E-book to help you combat those lies and hear the truth of what God's heart has to say to you.
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Check out more at our website www.reclaimedstory.com
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Here are two FREE Ebooks for you!
1. Shame Off You: 10 steps to shattering shame in your life, HERE.
2. ABC's: CLICK HERE for a FREE E-book to help you combat lies and replace them with God's truth. For more encouragement, check out some of our offerings at www.reclaimedstory.com
Did you know we have a jewelry line that speaks to your identity in Jesus? CLICK HERE to shop. Every purchase helps support our mission to provide healing and hope to women worldwide.
Would you partner with us to spread the message of hope and healing? You can DONATE HERE. Living the Reclaimed Life is a Reclaimed Story, Inc. podcast, An Arizona non-profit corporation.
If you would like to connect with a safe group of women doing real-life together, join our private Facebook page, “Living the Reclaimed Life” or on Facebook or Instagram
When you are facing something that seems too big, or you don't feel qualified for, what is your response? In this episode, we are going to look at three things that we can do in any situation when we aren't sure if God is really calling us to the challenge before us.
If this podcast is an encouragement to you, would you partner with us to spread the message of hope and healing? You can DONATE HERE. Living the Reclaimed Life is a podcast of Reclaimed Story, Inc. An Arizona non-profit corporation.
Have you ever thought... "I am not enough, not qualified, or overlooked"? CLICK HERE to receive a FREE E-book to help you combat those lies and hear the truth of what God's heart has to say to you.
If you would like to connect with a safe group of women, who are doing real-life together join our private Facebook page, “Living the Reclaimed Life” Join us!
Free Shipping in the U.S. as you give jewelry that speaks to identity in Jesus.
CLICK HERE Every purchase helps support our mission to provide healing and hope to women.
Check out more at our website www.reclaimedstory.com
Connect with us!
Facebook
Instagram
Here are two FREE Ebooks for you!
1. Shame Off You: 10 steps to shattering shame in your life, HERE.
2. ABC's: CLICK HERE for a FREE E-book to help you combat lies and replace them with God's truth. For more encouragement, check out some of our offerings at www.reclaimedstory.com
Did you know we have a jewelry line that speaks to your identity in Jesus? CLICK HERE to shop. Every purchase helps support our mission to provide healing and hope to women worldwide.
Would you partner with us to spread the message of hope and healing? You can DONATE HERE. Living the Reclaimed Life is a Reclaimed Story, Inc. podcast, An Arizona non-profit corporation.
If you would like to connect with a safe group of women doing real-life together, join our private Facebook page, “Living the Reclaimed Life” or on Facebook or Instagram
Ep 64 Go in the strength you have
*Transcript is autogenerated
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Gideon, God, Lord, fleece, confirmation, reclaimed, life, summer, friends, podcast, bathroom mirror, strength, calling, pray, feel, story, mighty warrior, passage, hope, ground
SPEAKERS
Denisha Workizer
Denisha Workizer 00:00
Welcome to Living the Reclaim life Podcast. I'm Denisha We're glad you're here for conversations that revive hope, inspire healing and encourage you to live a vibrant life with Christ. So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest. Welcome to Episode 64.
Denisha Workizer 00:19
And I want to start off by confessing something kind of goofy that I do at home, I often take whether it be a Bible passage, or whether it be a quote that I've heard or something that I feel like the Lord has spoken to me, and I write it on my bathroom mirror and an expo marker. Yeah, you can go ahead and laugh at that. But I love to remember those things. And then sometimes, yes, I have to wipe them off, and I'll journal that, and then I'll put them back on or put something different back on. And I remember a time when on my bathroom mirror, I had the passages that we're going to talk about today. And I had them written and I would read them every day as as a source of strength for me. And last night, I was talking to a friend of mine, and we're planning for an upcoming conference, which will keep you posted about as well here in Tucson. And as we were talking about that conference, she reminded me of a passage that was something years ago I held so deeply to, and it's a story in the Bible that we're going to talk about today. And it's about Gideon. And as she said, these words to me, I could just see my bathroom mirror from probably six or seven years ago, and these words written on my bathroom mirror. And as she said that it brought back to me the importance of how I remember being so close to God in that season when things are hard. But it also reminded me that I am standing in a season right now where I needed those very words again, have you ever been there? Have you ever had something come back to your mind or read a passage in a fresh way and realize that that was so applicable to you today. That's what happened last night when my friend brought up the story of Gideon to me. And so that's what we're going to talk about today. And before we dive into that, I want to let you know, this is going to be the last episode of season two. Next weekend starts Memorial Day depending on when you're listening to this podcast. And Memorial Day tends to kick off summer. So we're gonna go ahead and do that. And we are going to take some time off this summer from the podcast. And we are not going to record on over the summer. And I don't know if you know this, but between the five of us on the Reclaim story team, we have 12 kids, isn't that crazy. We have 12 kids and five husbands. And so this summer, we are going to practice what we preach and we are going to spend time with our family, we are going to enjoy this time with our kids. And then we will kick back off the podcast starting in August. So during this time, the next couple months, take the time to go back and listen to podcasts that you missed you guys, we have hit on some pretty deep topics. And we've had some pretty amazing guests on the podcast. So I hope that you will take this time and go through scroll through some of the other titles and maybe you've missed a couple and that the Lord would use to speak to you now. So today as we get started, we're gonna kick off and talk about Gideon, I'm gonna this is going to be a very unpolished kind of raw episode. Because it was just last night when my friend spoke this to me and I thought I have to share this with our audience. As we dive in the story of Gideon. Today, we're going to be looking at Judges chapter six and seven. And my hope is that by the end of this episode, that we will both find encouragement on how Gideon story is applicable to our lives today. And maybe by the time we're done, you'll even have something to write on your bathroom mirror to remind you of the strength that God has given you. And that we're never alone as we tackle hard things in our lives as we tackle hard obstacles. So as we kick this off, Chapter Six in Judges starts out with this the Israelites they were rescued, God rescued them out of slavery and out of Egypt. And then the thing that he told them was do not worship the gods of the Amorites in the land that they were now living. So what we see here is we see that God has now because of their sin because they began to worship the gods that God told them not to God put them in the hands of the Midianites. And so as he does this, the Midianites are strong. And so what we see playing out here in chapter six is we see first off that the Israel cries to the Lord cries out to the Lord because of Midian. And the first thing I gather from that is they're in this hard time, right? They're, they're in this with the strong people, they have these strong circumstances ahead of them, and the first thing they do is cry out to God. And that's the first thing that we typically do to write it When things are hard is when we hit our knees. And sometimes those hard situations will drive us to our knees. And sometimes hard situations will just remind us of the power that God that we give God in our lives when we pray. And so in here we see the Israelites crying out to God essentially praying, and they're like, Hey, here's the here's, here's what, here's
Denisha Workizer 05:23
what we're going through right now. And God comes back and he says, Have I not brought you out of Egypt? He reminds them of things I have rescued you. And he reminds them of when he has delivered them from the hands of their oppressors. And then he reminds them of what they did that he told them not to not to worship the gods of the Amorites. In verse 12, we see that the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and he said, The Lord is with you mighty warrior. Well, I can say after reading this chapter that Gideon did not feel like a mighty warrior, God is calling him up. He is saying, I'm calling you to something difficult. And he said, The Lord is with you mighty warrior. And getting replies in verse 13, and says, Pardon me, my lord, getting replied. But if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, Did the Lord not bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian? Have you ever felt that way? You know, God, if you are with me, then why is my child struggling? If the Lord is with me, why is my marriage going through such a hard time? If the Lord is with us? Why are our finances, our health, our relationships? Why are these things happening? I know that I have asked the Lord that. I have said, God, I've watched you do miracles. I've watched you heal yet. Where's the healing that I'm desiring from you that I'm asking for right now. And I have felt like God has abandoned me before. Now he never has. And friends right now, if you are feeling like God, I know you've done these things in the past. But where are you right now? This feels so big. Then you can relate to Gideon. In verse 14, after Gideon says, All that the Lord Lord turned to him and said, Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midians hand. Am I not sending you? Friends, there are things that we are facing in our lives right now that feels so big. And we feel like God, pardon me, but do you not see who I am? How are you giving me this battle? I don't feel strong enough. I don't feel qualified. I don't feel like I am enough. And what the Lord says to Gideon, is go in the strength you have. And so friends, even if you feel weak, right now, I want to encourage you to take those words of Gideon, this is what I had written on my bathroom mirror, go in the strength you have. And once again, Gideon replies, pardon me, my lord. But how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasa. And I am the least in my family. He's saying, I'm not I'm not up for this battle. Neither is my clan. Neither is my family. We are not the strongest, we're the meekest. And the Lord answered, I will be with you. And so that's what I want us to take away from Gideon here. I want us to take away one that the Israelites cried out to God that they prayed, they called out to the Lord. The next thing I want us to see is that even when we feel weak, that God is strong. We are mighty warriors because he is with us not because we can be a mighty warrior by ourselves, but because the Lord stands with us. And that we can go in the strength that we have. Whether you are feeling strong today, and you're feeling like you could conquer an army or whether you are feeling weak, maybe beaten down by circumstances in life, maybe beaten down by the divisiveness that is out there that I can tell you guys that is really impacting me. The divisiveness that I'm seeing out there among people among even in God's church that is really wearing on my heart. Because I know that that's not what God has for us. That's not the best that he has for us. And so there are so many moments just in, in my life in in whether it be ministry, whether it be my kids my marriage, that I think God Do you not see me I am not strong enough for this battle. And the Lord says Go in the strength that you have, I will be with you. And maybe that's something that you'd like to write on your bathroom mirror and an expo marker, go in the strength that you have. We don't have to muster up any more strength, we
Denisha Workizer 10:15
don't have to, to gird ourselves in gear up for the day, because we know we're going to have a fight ahead of us in whatever it is. Some of us are fighting for finances, trying to make a living to feed our families with the ever increasing prices. Some of us are fighting just to get out of bed, because depression and anxiety are so heavy. Some of us are fighting and having to, you know, pick ourselves up by our boots, because we are having to handle conflict in relationships that are hard. And some of us are just facing things in our lives, whatever that is for you. Well, I want to tell you, friends go in the strength that you have. Because God will be with you. And I don't know about you, but sometimes I question God. And you know, he's big enough to handle our questions. Sometimes I question God, and I go, God, are you sure you've called me to this? I might need three visions to dreams and a friend to call me out of the blue and tell me what you're telling me because this feels too big. And we see the same in Gideon story. We see Gideon go through these different things with the Lord to say, Hey, I'm gonna do this. I need you to do this. I need confirmation. And you've heard about the fleece. You know, maybe you've heard people say, I'm going to throw out a fleece and you wondered what that meant? That comes out of Gideon story. And I love this. Because first Gideon says, Okay, God, here's the deal. I hear you saying that you are going to, you know, save Israel by my hand. But I'm a little doubtful, okay? I'm a little doubtful. So I'm going to take this piece of wool, this wool fleece, okay. Imagine like a fleece blanket, okay, I'm gonna take this piece of wool. And I'm going to put it out on the ground. And in the morning, he's asking for a sign here. He's asking God for confirmation. Are you sure you're calling me to this, and he lays that piece of wool fleece on the ground. And he says, if there is due only on the fleece, and the ground is dry, then I'll know that you will for sure save Israel by my hand. Now imagine if you have the ground being dry, but a blanket that you put out on the ground is wet. That would be unusual, right? Because if the blanket is wet, the ground would be wet. And that's what we see Gideon saying he's saying, I need a sign. I need a sign in a wonder here. God. He's saying let there be the I want the fleece to be wet and the ground to be dry, then all No. So get in rose the next morning and he took the fleece and he squeezed it out. He wrung it out. And he filled a bowl full of water. And guess what? The ground was dry. God met him in his moment, where he was like, Lord, I don't know for sure this is you, I hear you. But I don't know. Are you for sure gonna be with me? Are you for sure gonna save me from this circumstance? If I step out and believe you for this? Are you going to be with me? And God answers him. God doesn't scold him and say, you know, you you're not listening to me, therefore, I'm gonna give you into the hands of the Midianites. He's saying, I am with you. Look, I hear you. I hear your uncertainty. I see your need to know that it is me. I will meet you there. And so then Gideon says, God, don't be angry with me. This is in verse 39. And this is in chapter six. He says do not be angry with me. Let me make one more request. Have you ever done that? God gives you this this sign this miracle this word from somebody? And then you go okay, God, I believe you. But can I just test you one more time? Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time, make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered in do so now he's saying okay, God, okay. I'm pretty sure that was you the fleece wrung out I got to wring it out and fill up a bowl of water and the ground was dry, but this time, Lord, so I really know that it's you calling me to this. Can we flip it? I want the ground to be wet and the fleece to be dry. And so guess what? That night God did exactly what Gideon asked. He gave him confirmation. The fleece was dry, and the ground was wet with dew. And I don't know about you, but I have done this so many times. Okay, okay, God, I think you're speaking this to my heart, but I need confirmation. I need someone else to tell me or I need this to happen. And I've heard many stories from you guys of where you've said God. This is Really you? I'm going to ask that you do this. And that is what we see Gideon doing God, this feels so big. So friends today, I want to ask you in your life, what feels so big?
Denisha Workizer 15:16
What feels so big in your life? But yet you feel like God is calling you to it, or you're called to it because you're married. And you took an oath on an altar. And you know that God has called you to work that out. Or because you are a mother, and you have children, and you know that you can't walk away from that responsibility. God has called you to it, but will he see you through it? Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt scared and wanted to hide? But you feel like God is calling you to something that is hard. So the first thing we see here is we see that the Israelites cried out to the Lord. So I want to encourage you to pray. Whether you've prayed this morning, or whether you haven't prayed in years, I want to encourage you to just give yourself in a quiet, get yourself in a quiet space. And just step out and say, God, I'm here. Lord, I'm crying out to you, I'm lifting up this circumstance to do you know, there are no magic words when you pray. There's always those couple people in our Bible studies or at church that just pray so eloquently, they seem to have all the right words at all the right times. But that's not what God is calling us to. That's their gift, that we can come in our messy middle, somewhere between God asking us to do something and actually stepping out to do that. And we can come to him with our genuine, authentic words. And we can even say things like, God, I don't know what you're doing here. But I'm here. And if you're calling out to me, I'm gonna ask you to make this really firm and solid to me, I need confirmation. The second thing when we're facing those giant things, it's okay to ask for confirmation. But one thing I want to warn us about is we want to make sure that confirmation does a few things as we pray and ask God for confirmation, one, that that confirmation, whatever it is lines up with Scripture. And two, we want to see counsel and perspective from other believers that we trust. And three, that confirmation should bring us peace. So we can cry out to the Lord, it's okay to ask for confirmation just as we saw Gideon do. But does that confirmation line up with scripture? Is that confirmation come to us with also counsel in perspective of other believers we trust? And does it bring us peace. The last thing that we do when we are facing something hard, we pray, we can ask for confirmation. And we remember, remember what God has done for you in the past. Remember other times in your life, that you have faced something giant, and he has brought you through. And so remember what God has done in the past might just be what encourages you today. When my friend brought up Gideon last night to me, I thought, wow, I remember these words written on my bathroom mirror, go in the strength you have, I will be with you. And when she said that I immediately flashed back to six or seven years ago when that was on my bathroom mirror. And I remember thinking, I made it through that time. Thought difficulties, the circumstances in my life at that moment that caused me to write those words on my mirror. I made it through that. And even though I might be facing hard things right now and you're you might be facing hard things right now. What God has done for you in the past, he is so faithful to continue to be with you. And so friends as you go into your summer, I would love to just leave you with this. The Lord is with you mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have. He will be with you. I pray that that encourages you today. So if you need to write it on your bathroom mirror, journal it or just hold it in your heart. The Lord is with you mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have. He will be with you.
Denisha Workizer 19:38
So friends, as we say, I guess goodbye to this season. We will be coming back in August for season three of living the reclaimed life. Over the summer. You can stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed story. And if you're a woman and you're looking for a community of women who are safe to do Real Life with that, encourage one another and lift one another up. You want to check out the Facebook group living the reclaimed life. It is a women only group and it is really designed to just be out build friendships and community. And sometime over the summer also we will be announcing via email and also on our social media, a local coffee chat that we're going to have here in Tucson and we can meet up at a Starbucks and hang out and just be able to rub shoulders with other Reclaimers other women that are doing the hard things and living the vibrant life with Christ. So we hope you have a fantastic summer we hope this season has been an encouragement for you and has drawn you a little bit closer to Jesus because that is our heart that we can help women find hope and healing from a painful past through a vibrant relationship with Jesus. So thank you so much for listening, be sure to connect with us on social, join the Facebook group and if you go to our website at reclaimed story.com You can shop for inspiring jewelry and journals over the summer if you have birthdays coming up. And also be sure to subscribe to our email list because that way you will get all of the updates on coffee chats on the podcast coming back out and lots of encouragement coming your way. Because that my friends is what gets our team up in the morning is to bless you. So I hope that you have a wonderful summer and we'll see you back here in August. Thanks for listening. I pray you found hope in today's conversation and maybe even feel a little less alone in your story. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed story. Want to learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of our growing community ever claimers? Check out our website at reclaimed story.com all of those links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoy this inspirational podcast Be sure to subscribe rate and review. Not only will you be the first one to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help and helping us reach more people to live the reclaimed life.