Your Identity And Destiny: 3 Keys From The Life Of Gideon

(Adopted from http://www.enlivenpublishing.com)

"Your DESTINY is the answer to the question, ‘What has God called me to do?"

"Your IDENTITY is the answer to the question, ‘Who has God called me to be?"

How can we discover the answers to these questions? And what will it take to completely fulfil the calling of God on our lives?
Out of Hiding and into History

In Judges 6, Israel is living under oppression from their enemies, the Midianites. A young man called Gideon is hiding from the enemy in a winepress, threshing wheat.

God sends an angelic messenger to Gideon to proclaim his God-given destiny and identity.

‘And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valour!” Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?… Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 6:12-14)

When the angel calls Gideon a ‘Mighty man of valour,’ he is calling him by his God-given identity.

In the Bible, a given name is often synonymous with a God-ordained identity or destiny. [1]

The name Gideon means ‘cutter down’ or ‘destroyer’, and Gideon is destined to be a leader who, with God’s help, overthrows Israel’s powerful enemy.

Gideon, however, sees himself differently—as insignificant and powerless. As a result, he is living in fear and weakness.

The angel’s pronouncement of Gideon’s identity and destiny sets in motion a chain of events that propels Gideon out of hiding and into history.
What Gideon teaches us about our Identity and Destiny

We may not have an angel turn up on our doorstep with a message from God like Gideon did. We may not even have a personal prophecy. But we can begin to grasp our God-given identity and destiny.

When we do, it will have life-changing consequences to others and ourselves.

Here are some things that we can learn from Gideon’s story:

1. God Himself Initiates our Identity and Destiny

‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ (Eph 2:10)

God steps into Gideon’s normal, everyday life and announces His intention for him.

God’s purpose for our lives is not our own good idea of what we would like to be or do; it is His plan for us.

God’s destiny for your life will be consistent with the way He has wired you. It may be helpful to consider the clues He has given—your unique experiences, passion, abilities and spiritual gifts.

But don’t limit God by over-defining these things. Remember—He took Gideon by surprise and may have some surprises in store for you too.

Prayer journaling is one helpful tool that you can use to converse with God. [2] Take time to pray and ask your Father the questions:

    ‘What have you called me to do?’
    ‘Who have you called and created me to be?’ [3]

Ask godly leaders that you have a relationship with what they see in you. Allow them to speak into your life.

2. He Turns our Weaknesses into His Strengths

‘Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.’ (1 Cor 1:26-27)

When God calls Gideon, the young man does not comprehend his destiny or his identity—in fact, he is currently being and behaving the very opposite of what God has called him to be.

Gideon is fearful, however his God-given identity is to be bold. He feels himself to be the smallest and least significant, but God is calling him to be a leader.

In the Bible, those whom God uses powerfully usually have a history of weakness or failure in their very area of strength.

God is by nature a Redeemer.

Consider where you have been hurt and wronged, or have sinned, or are weak. These are the very things God is redeeming. With His help you will not only overcome those weaknesses, but they will become points of strength. They will become areas in which you minister to others.

Remember, too, when your Heavenly Father speaks to you of your identity and destiny, it will be something beyond your own natural ability to accomplish.

3. It Takes an Intimate Relationship with God to Wholly Fulfil our Destiny

An encounter with God is an invitation to relationship with Him.

Potentially, Gideon’s encounter with God could be the beginning of a personal relationship with Him. He has the opportunity to be an Abraham, a Moses—a friend of God.

Gideon has the opportunity now, to not only overcome the enemy, but also to lead Israel in worship of God.

However, tragically, he will fall short of his destiny and instead, lead the nation into idolatry. (Judges 8:22-27)

Here is the bottom line.

Here is the very foundation of our identity and destiny.

We are created to have an intimate love relationship with God. This is both the beginning of our identity and the ultimate end of our destiny.

As Christian believers, we are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. This is the relationship that Jesus paid to restore when He shed His blood on the cross.

And before we can fully understand our personal identity, we need to comprehend our Family identity.

We need to understand what it means to have the divine DNA, the identity of being a member of God’s royal family.

Only once we have understood this can we fully embrace and enter into our personal God-given identity—and fulfill it.

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