[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":55},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Fdevotions\u002Fgo-in-the-strength-you-have":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"date":36,"description":37,"extension":38,"featured":39,"image":40,"meta":41,"navigation":42,"path":43,"scripture":44,"scriptureText":45,"seo":46,"stem":47,"tags":48,"__hash__":54},"devotions\u002Fdevotions\u002Fgo-in-the-strength-you-have.md","Go in the Strength You Have","Christy Morrow",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":32},"minimark",[10,14,17,20,23,26,29],[11,12,13],"p",{},"During the time of the Judges, there was a man named Gideon. When we are introduced to him, he is \"threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.\" That was an unusual thing to do. Normally, you threshed your wheat out in the open. But Gideon was scared. It says in Judges 6:12: \"When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'\" A man threshing his wheat in a winepress because he was scared of the Midianites does not seem like a mighty warrior!",[11,15,16],{},"However, God saw past all that and saw what Gideon could be...with God's help. He saw Gideon's potential way before Gideon ever could. That is why he says to him in Judges 6:14: \"...Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?\" God wanted Gideon to go against the very people that he was afraid of. What?!",[11,18,19],{},"God often calls us to do things we are afraid of...because he knows how he made us and that he has equipped us to do what he has called us to do. That is why he said, \"Go in the strength you have...\" That strength was not Gideon's. It was the strength that God had given him when he made him. In essence, he was telling Gideon to get in agreement with who God called him to be...not how he saw himself. Often what we see and what God sees is very different. I saw a meme that I completely agree with that said, \"Maybe life is not about becoming anything. Maybe it is about unbecoming everything we're not so we can be who God called us to be.\"",[11,21,22],{},"Gideon was still operating in fear when he said in Judges 6:15: \"But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family.\" Isn't that what we do, too? We make excuses as to why we can't do what he calls us to do. (I'm too busy; I've got work; I'm a mom; there is no time with the kids' activities; I don't know how; I've failed at that in the past; etc.) If God has called you to do something, we often feel that we are unable to do that thing. We are right...we aren't able. It says in the NIV study note on this verse: \"The Lord usually calls the lowly rather than the mighty to act for him.\"",[11,24,25],{},"So, what if you are afraid? We all feel fear. God wants to encourage us. That is why God says so many times in the Bible: do not fear! (or some version of the phrase). It's okay to feel fear. It's not okay to become afraid (or terrified, etc.). When we become afraid, we will stop moving and stop doing what God has called us to do.",[11,27,28],{},"We also tend to view what God calls us to do from the viewpoint of our own strength. It is too daunting to do what God calls us to do—in our own strength. We then get easily overwhelmed by our circumstances, what we see, our problems, etc. That is why God tells us in Joshua 1:9: \"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.\" We are not to be afraid. We are to be strong and courageous. Why? Because the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. How comforting is that?",[11,30,31],{},"If God is calling you to do something, he will do it through you. Your part is to agree with him, be willing, do what he calls you to do, and be creative if he tells you to \"go in the strength you have.\"",{"title":33,"searchDepth":34,"depth":34,"links":35},"",2,[],"2026-09-07","Like Gideon, we often feel too weak or too afraid for what God has called us to do. But God calls the lowly, not the mighty, and he equips us with his own strength.","md",false,"\u002Fimages\u002Fdevotions\u002Fbird.jpg",{},true,"\u002Fdevotions\u002Fgo-in-the-strength-you-have","Judges 6:12","The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.",{"title":5,"description":37},"devotions\u002Fgo-in-the-strength-you-have",[49,50,51,52,53],"fear","courage","calling","strength","gideon","Jl7AfpJVwnPMhpk0Sl8mjIcGpkRufQ0DDcNs-SUsmr4",1789246236536]