Greatness lies in everyone on this planet whether we choose to believe it or not! It’s even more amazing that our experiences or circumstances don’t deter our greatness from being experienced by the world unless we allow them to!
So there is this guy I read about. His name is Gideon.
He went into shock when he was informed that he was going to lead an army of people into battle and bring them victory. He reminded the messenger who gave him the outrageous news of why he thinks he is mistaken and probably came to the wrong guy.
He said:
– How can I be chosen to save the NATION?
-Take a good look at me (he probably would have turned around for the messenger to take a good look at him). Did you have an idea that I am from an almost irrelevant family? And that’s not even all! I am the runt of the litter; as inconspicuous as my family is in this whole nation, they don’t even seem to notice that I’m amongst them!
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Some of us are like Gideon. Apart from the fact that people or circumstances belittle us, we also belittle ourselves and we must stop it because we are not what people or our circumstances say we are.
So again I want to ask, do you feel unnoticed and irrelevant? Do you feel that nobody might come to encounter your greatness or relevance? You just need to take a chill pill because no matter how unfruitful a tree might be in the first instance, if it is planted by the river, it will subsequently bear fruits in due season!
Your greatness is your fruit that the world will see after you have condemned your circumstance taking its toll on you. Your fruit will show but are you willing to rise above your hurts, disappointments, pain or weaknesses and bring into manifestation the future our Lord God had in store for you.
Look the world’s standard might give you ways to be successful or relevant but I will like to debunk the world’s standards for success and embrace God’s standard because it is God’s standard for success that gives peace that seems unbelievable. Philippians 4:7
God told Gideon to trust Him because He was the one sending Him! Can you see the silent assurance of protection that God will bring his way if Gideon would dare trust Him? Judges 6:14. God is saying same to us “Trust me”. He knows He will not leave us stranded in the battle ground because He sent us. Our trust in Him is what gives us peace that seems unbelievable.
How Lord? How can my trust in you translate to a life of greatness when pain is choking my existence out of me? God is still saying that you should trust Him.
God knew you before you were born. He knew what He called you to accomplish. He knew the hurdles you are going to face. He knew you would overcome if you just trust Him.
Believe me when God says you should trust Him, it means there are instructions embedded in your trust in Him that you must follow. Sometimes His instructions may sound very foolish and unbelievable. Just do it! Sometimes He might instruct you not to do anything in that season. Just obey. Did you know that after Gideon made God convince Him that He would be with them, God told Gideon that the soldiers with him were too much. So God told Gideon to inform the soldiers that were afraid to go home. Gideon did as he was told. Yet God said the soldiers were still much. He further instructed Gideon to take the guys to the river and anyone who drinks from the river like a dog are the chosen soldiers but anyone who bends down on their knees to drink is disqualified.
Hmmm…
After Gideon obeyed this instruction only 300 men passed the test! Ha… 300 men against the Medianites and Amalekites that were like grasshoppers and the number of their their camel was like the sand by the sea? What was God trying to do? However in all of these instructions lie the fruits of their (our) greatness. Read through Judges 7:1-25 and you will realize that all Gideon and his soldiers did was to blow their trumpets and their enemies turned their swords against themselves, leading themselves to their death. If only the world will see and understand that our measure of success is determined by God!
When Gideon decided to trust God and do as he was told he led the army of Isreal and defeated their enemy. Can you dare to trust God and do as He says in your moments of fear, pain and disappointments? Can you dare see yourself as God sees you? Can you dare unleash the greatness in you despite your circumstance? We have heard lots of stories about people who were limited by their physical abilities, fear, circumstances but still went ahead to unleash the greatness that was in them.
What would you want the world to read about you? Defeat or victory? Just as William Ernest said in his poem Invictus, “we are the master of our fate and the captain of our souls”, however I would also want to add that our total trust in God will give us the right perspective in being the master of our fate and the captain of our souls.
So yes your fruit of greatness will eventually show as long as you put your trust in God and obey the instructions He gives to you in every season of your life.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (Message Translation)
Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for Gods voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.
Ristch 