When facing a crisis, have you ever thought – where is God, what is he trying to do? Trials always come before you find victory. When we face unthinkable situations, God begins to do his best work. There are countless stories of people in the Bible that have faced this. Abraham left his home to follow God, Joseph was thrown into prison before he was placed to rule in a palace, David fled for his life and lived hiding in a cave before he became king, Mary and Joseph had to flee from their home to Egypt before settling in Nazareth, the apostle Paul spent three years in the desert before the apostles were convinced to accept his conversion. Christian history tells us adversity prepares us for greater accomplishment. Be careful what you’re running from – it might be the thing that God wants to use to shape you in his image. God’s job is not to make us happy, but to make us holy. Sometimes, he uses our biggest fears to draw us to himself.

In the story of Gideon, the angel speaks into Gideon, calling him a mighty warrior while he is hiding in a winepress. God’s first work in our life is to speak about who we CAN be, not who we are. Until you know your identity in God, you can’t do what he has called you to do. Pain lies to us about who we really are – divorced, bankrupt, kicked out of school, etc. YOU ARE HIS CHILD, YOU ARE HIS FRIEND, YOU ARE JUSTIFIED, FORGIVEN, NO LONGER CONDEMNED, YOU ARE NOT PUNISHED BECAUSE IN JESUS YOU ARE UNPUNISHIBLE BECAUSE EVERY SIN EVER COMMITTED - PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE WAS PAID FOR YOU AT THE CROSS. GOD IS NOT PUNISHING YOU! YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR, YOU ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP, CREATED FOR GOOD WORKS. YOU ARE A ROYAL PRIEST DECLARING THE GOOD NEWS, YOU ARE A BLOOD BOUGHT, SPIRIT FILLED, HEAVENBOUND, FULLY EQUIPPED WARRIOR WITH SPECIAL ARMOR, DESIGNED TO TEAR DOWN THE STRONGHOLDS OF THE ENEMY!

He is walking into your mess and telling you to RISE UP! Like Gideon, we are called to go in the strength we have – to shift our focus on what we have, rather than what we don’t. Let God make up the difference in the gaps in what we can do versus what God can do – that’s why we need a savior! Things will never change in your life until you’ve had a personal encounter with God, which can’t happen with obtaining more knowledge, etc. Toby is committing Cross Timbers to teach us how to have a personal encounter with God before 2025, to press into Him, to be desperate for it. As long as we have options outside of God, we won’t pick God, and we won’t get to experience his unimaginable works in our life. In the story of Gideon, God compelled him to rely on divine strength by reducing his army of 33,000 to just 300 soldiers, ultimately leading them to victory over their enemies. The true miracle of the story wasn’t the defeat, but what God did in Gideon’s heart.

1. Where are you placing your focus (on what you don’t have or what you have)? How could shifting your focus help your current situation?

2. What area in your life just doesn’t make sense? Is it possible that God led you there to work a miracle in your life?

3. How can you trust God in this season/situation of your life?