I have always been a very quiet, somewhat socially awkward person. In fact, I have often felt this symbiotic relationship with turtles…spending most of my time with my head and arms hiding within a shell, only to occasionally pop my neck out. I have also always known, however, that this is the area of my greatest redemption; often hearing God call me His lioness while wearing that beautiful, mischievous grin of His.
God often uses the area of our greatest weakness as the point of our most powerful purpose. After all, he uses the weak things of the world to shame the strong. I think that is why so often in the Bible, when God calls someone, their response is usually “I don’t think you know who you are talking to.”
The first step in aligning with your identity is to believe it.
When God called Gideon, the first thing God did was to declare to Gideon his identity, to which Gideon responded with all that he was not. Moses had a similar response when God called him to lead Israel out of Egypt.
How do you talk and think about yourself? If someone asked you what you are like, what would be your primary description? How does that align with what God says about you? There can be a huge chasm between who God says we are and who we experience ourselves to be. The wonderful thing, as we see in His encounters with Gideon and Moses, is that God is very patient with us in this gap of how we are showing up today and our persona. With every doubt that arose God promised He would be with them, repeated their true identity, and gave them signs to affirm His power in their lives. At some point though, a decision had to be made. An opportunity was given for them to either step out beyond their comfort zone into who God said they were, or to trust their experiences and say “no.”
We must not only learn to believe what God says about us, we must take a step of faith.
When Moses argued that he was not eloquent, God promised that He would teach Moses what to say. Unfortunately there most likely will never be a moment where we are suddenly free of our weaknesses. God wants to teach us how to walk in our true identity, therefore it is something we have to learn. We are bound to mess up, to be uncomfortable, and to feel like we are in over our heads…because this is the place of learning. And we can choose whether we step into this place or not. Gideon, although he was afraid, stepped out. (Judges 6:27). Moses, on the other hand, told God to find someone else to do the speaking, so Aaron was chosen instead. (Exodus 4:13).
Who does God say you are? If you were fully that person, what would it look like? What would be different? What would you be doing that you are not doing now? Ask God for an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone and into that persona. He promises to be with you every step of the way.
Stacy Beebe
Warrior Commission Member
