Priscilla Shirer, Gideon, and Me

I've been doing Priscilla Shirer's Gideon study with some people from my church and it has rocked my world week after week. A few weeks ago, I taught our high school Sunday School class and used Priscilla Shirer's lesson as a jumping off point. I told them the same thing I'll say here... much of this (I'll try to point out where it's hers and mine) is Priscilla Shirer's. :)

From Priscilla Shirer:

Judges 6:11-12

The Angel came, and sat. Gideon was threshing (hiding). Angel then appeared TO HIM.

There was no music, no lightning strike, the angel just showed up in the midst of a boring day— even a day when he was not getting to do his work in the regular way. 

Oh, how many days do I spend in the mundane, sometimes even in situations where I don't get to do my work in the usual way, but instead am thrown off by some family issue at home, some interruption in our school schedule, some email from a parent that gets me all worked up and upset, some off-hand comment by a student that wounds me to my core? And it is in THAT sort of scenario that the angel appeared.

From Priscilla Shirer:

Ephesians 1:18-19- Eyes of your heart opened, so that you will know the hope of his calling

Gideon was aware of God’s presence—> he discovered his calling—> THEN he found the power to accomplish it

Explanation of wheat threshing— foreshadowing of what God was going to ask Gideon to do (separate his people from the Baal worship)

Today’s tasks, even the most mundane, are preparation for tomorrow’s calling

Are we doing the most mundane duty FAITHFULLY? Even when it’s hard and it’s not what we chose?

I've had some days this past year when the most mundane was NOT executed faithfully by me. I have forgotten at times that every single day is preparation for tomorrow's calling. Sometimes in the middle of some hard with my kids, in the middle of these tough teen years, as I struggle to hold on, I think how much easier it would be not to hold on so tightly.... not to struggle to monitor online activity, to keep tabs on friend and peer groups, to enjoy some blissful ignorance. But every time I think that, I have to remind myself that I'm not simply parenting teens, I'm building adults. It matters every day today, because their future matters. Last year, I made a shirt that said "Your daily grind is holy ground". That was a really valuable reminder for me. 

From Priscilla Shirer:
The Lord is with you,

and called him “valiant warrior”.

Gibbor Chayil (Gib-or hile) — Might man of valor (Eishet Chayil— ay-shet hile)

Describes David’s warrios who had done courageous exploits on behalf of the king— elite fighters, handpicked to perform special tasks, champions

Made sense

Gideon was hunched over, cowering in the winepress

God’s view was not bound by Gideon’s reality or actions

The angel had already told Gideon WHO was with him, now he revealed what was IN HIM

The assignment for which God is calling will go unrealized unless we are convinced of the spiritual strength he has given us to accomplish it.

Gideon was called a valiant warrior. 

No matter how you feel, what Scripture says about you is truth.

Your circumstances do not dictate your capabilities.

The angel calls Gideon something that is not specific to his current behavior, but something that illustrates his potential.

This is the part that got me. When that angel called Gideon "Valiant Warrior" and Priscilla made the point that he called Gideon "something that is not specific to his current behavior, but something that illustrates his potential", it smacked me right in the face. Not only for myself, but for my kids, as a parent. How often do I label them (only in my head, but STILL) based on their current behaviors and weaknesses? I can't do that. I have to call forth the potential in them! I have to speak life in them! 

How often, this year, have I called myself a failure as a teacher based on this year's outward experiences? I'll be vulnerable for a minute and say that a year in which not a single kid in any senior night sport OR the 4.0 Banquet picked me as a favorite teacher STUNG. And it redefined the way I see myself as a teacher. Basically, I took 16 years of success and scrapped it in the threshing cave because the current situation said I wasn't "enough". And now, I have a choice. I can either let this year, this year of hiding in the cave threshing, shape the next 13 and label myself based on this year's experience, or I can call out the potential in me for the next 13 (and the past 16). 13 years is a long time to feel like a failure. But it's not long at all to feel like "Eishet Chayil", Woman of Valor.

As I was studying for the lesson, I started to wonder how often in the Bible God called people based on their potential rather than their current circumstances. I did use specific places where God verbally called them something, so a few of the ones I expected to have don't show up on the list (Moses, Noah, Jonah). However, below is a list of calls of God to people whom He labeled with their potential rather than their current circumstances.

Abraham: 

Genesis 12:7- “To your offspring I will give this land.”

75 year old childless couple

Moses:

Exodus 3:6- “I am the God of your ancestors”

Abandoned, exiled- Exodus 2:22- “I am a stranger in a foreign land”

Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 1:5- “Before you were born… I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

Young and lacking experience- Jeremiah 1:6- “I do not know how to speak, I am too young”

Jacob:

Genesis 35:10- “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be Jacob; your name will be Israel.” and gave him the land for his descendants

Deceiver: Named Jacob from birth and fulfilled his name until God gave him a new one

David:

1 Samuel 16 — Man looks on outward appearance but God looks on the heart… Verse 12: “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

A shepherd boy called a king

Mary:

Luke 1:28- “Favored woman”

A young, unmarried girl to be the mother of the king of the world

John the Baptist:

Luke1:76- “the one who speaks for the Most High”

 A baby born to elderly parents, living in a desert

Simon Peter:

Luke 5:10- “Fisher of men” and Rock

Sinful man- Luke 5:8

Paul:

Acts 9:15- “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles”

Abuser and - Acts 9:13- “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem”

From Priscilla Shirer:

Below is a list she gave of Self-Image and God-Image, along with Bible references. I asked the high schoolers to pick one that resonated with them, write the self-image word on one side of a card and the God-image and Biblical reference on the other. Then I asked them, over the top of the self-image, to write either Eishet Chayil (for girls) and Gibbor Chayil (for boys). I kept my card, with "Incompetent" barely showing under the bold sharpie written "Eishet Chayil". I'm going to put it in a prominent place on my desk at school, to serve as a reminder for the next 13 years that my current circumstances do not dictate the way God sees me and the way I see myself.

Self-Image God-Image Bible Reference

fearful courageous Josh 1:9, Psalms 138:3

incompetent capable 2 Cor 3:5-6

ungifted equipped 1 Cor 1:4-8, Hebrews 13:20-21

worthless valuable 1 Peter 2:9, Matthew 6:26

rejected accepted John 15:16

insignificant special Zephaniah 3:17, Ephesians 1:3-6