You know that place where you go to hide, to be alone for awhile? For some of us, it might be under the sheets, curled up in the corner of the couch, in our cars after pulling in the drive way, or even in a hot shower so you can hear nothing except the water streaming down. We all have that place. We all have those reasons. Maybe you need to escape, maybe you are afraid, maybe you have let your thoughts run amuck and just need a minute to settle them down. Maybe you are weary from fear and shame; and the burdens of life are weighing heavy. You just need to escape and hide. In Judges 6 there is such a place. It's a hollow spot, a sunken place, and it serves as a winepress most days. One particular day, it was used as a hiding place. A place of refuge from what was on the outside. It was taken over by a young man who just need to thresh some wheat but was too afraid to go to the hilltops...where the wheat is threshed. No, he wanted to hide and be alone for awhile and figured if he had to thresh the wheat he could do it in hiding where the evil Midianites could not find him. You see, this guy Gideon was terrified of the Midianites. He just so happened to be the youngest son in his father's house and his father's house was part of the smallest clan in the land. So, you see, Gideon took his fear, his shame, his insignificance, his smallness, and his work that needed doing straight to the pit of despair, quite literally. It's pretty common that we too find ourselves acting just like Gideon. I can think of plenty of times I stood in my shower crying, laying in bed ignoring my responsibilities, and sitting in my car alone feeling tired and small. In Judges 6:11-12 we find Gideon working. He is doing a possible job in an impossible position. 11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” He is found in a winepress threshing wheat. This job is made so much easier on a hilltop, where it was supposed to be done. Instead, because he is scared, he is in a winepress. It was deep and dark; the perfect hiding place. Gideon was hiding out, doing a job he was never intended to do in that place. God was calling him higher, literally and figuratively speaking. However, the angel of the Lord (believed to be Jesus) came down and sat with him in that dark, shameful place. Then, the angel of the Lord said "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." Now, I want you to catch that last part, "mighty warrior". It's laughable on the surface, right? A man feeling small and skittish being called a mighty warrior. God saw something in Gideon that Gideon did not believe for himself. A mighty warrior? Really? Yes! Absolutely! You see my friend, so many times we find ourselves in our hiding places feeling small and worn down by the world. Our hiding place, it turns out, is also a place to meet with Jesus. He is already there waiting for you to ask Him what He thinks of us. I promise you that He has a different view of us and our situations than we have. There is no need to be ashamed or fearful of what life has thrown at us. Jesus will meet us in those dark places, those pits of despair. When the job feels so impossible maybe it's because we aren't standing in a place of victory, where we belong as children of a Mighty King himself. Sister, it's okay to go to those dark places but know you are NOT intended to stay there. Your are being called higher, you are being called to do the possible because all things are possible with Christ, nothing is impossible. Stop believing the lies that your calling and work is impossible. It is important and it is possible. Your work and your calling is connected to every believer in the world. That is exactly why it's important to remember who you are in Christ. Remember, God thinks big, important, and mighty thoughts about you, His child, a Princess...Royalty. Be blessed.
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I'm Aimee, former Early Childhood Educator and Reading Specialist turned author, speaker, blogger, and mom of 5. This website is meant to inspire & equip parents of little ones to promote early literacy & language development at home. You will also find fun crafts, devotionals, and recipes to explore..
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