Rest Assured . . . – Judges 6:23

23 But God reassured him (Gideon), "Easy now. Don't panic. You won't die."

– Judges 6:23

Rest Assured . . .

Life is tough.

Bad stuff happens.

People disappoint.

It'll all be OK.

OK - now that THATs out of the way, let's realize that we are all knuckle-heads just trying to do the best we can with our broken, battered, prideful, best-intentioned 3-toed, pigeon-footed efforts.  Yes ALL of us!  You and me included.

Now the cool thing is, that God is Ok with that.  Huh?  Let me explain: God isn't looking for perfect people.  If He was, He'd be looking for a long, long time.  He's smarter than that – I mean, He created us after all – and He purposefully gave each one of us the capacity to do great things (with His help), and the ability to be downright foolish (when we do things our own way).  He KNOWS that even though we think we are doing good, we are going to hurt someone along the way.  He understands!  And despite our best efforts that keep proving how incapable we are, He STILL wants to use us and to prove to us that as long as we allow Him to be God, He will show us who He really is, and He will do amazing things through us.

God is not angry at you for making mistakes.  But He does want you to realize the mistakes you've made and understand that consequences are real and must be accepted.  But when we get on our knees before Him, and He reveals His plan, giving us a glimpse of His true nature, and the possibilities of greatness that lie ahead, the awesome weight of how incapable and inadequate we are to be having that moment with Him, will bring a panic and a fear of failure.  And believe it or not, that's a good thing.

That's when God smiles, lifts us off our knees, dusts us off, and reassures us, saying: "Easy now. Don't panic. You won't die."

He doesn't say it won't be difficult; He doesn't promise roses and pink begonias;  He won't sugar coat the fact that we are about to be pressed, and twisted, and bent out of shape a little;  He knows that we will need His help when our friends and loved ones hurts us, and accuse us, and mock us and ridicule our actions for Him.  But none of that is going to kill us.  There's no need to freak out, because He has everything under control.  If we will just stick with Him and allow Him to carry out His plan, we will grow stronger, and He will be Glorified, and the world will see what God can do through willing knuckleheads like us.

Prayer

Father, thank You for reassuring us this morning.  Thank You for still wanting to use people like us and for understanding our flaws and our mis-guided ways.  Help us to do everything with Your heart in mind.  Help us to be less hurtful, and prideful, and opinionated and to take the railroad tie out of our eyes so we can see each other more clearly.  Forgive us Lord, for making messes and help us to peacemakers and overcomers . . . for You.

Have a blessed day everyone!

– Richard