Dear Partners and Friends;
“I’m getting over myself”, I spoke these words this for the first time in October 2018. It was after God asked me to do Facebook live, and I was scared. Yes, me who has preached to stadiums with multiplied thousands in them, spoken with the who’s who of ministry, appeared regularly on international television, taught on radio, and here I was intimidated by a little camera on my computer, not knowing who was on the other side of it! I was nervous to look at that little camera and talk.
The Lord spoke to me and said, “You have missed out on much that I had for you. You go into a store and see someone you know and just because you are not all dressed up, you hide from them. How do you know that I didn’t send you there for them? You allow your feelings of inferiorities and your thoughts of not measuring up to rob you of your complete destiny.”
I was stunned, but He did not stop there, He went on to say, “Get over yourself.” It was a command. After He said this, I was quiet before Him. Thoughts ran rampant through my mind. God, you know that when You called me, I had many things to overcome. You know how I was raised. A true Southern belle. My house has to be in order, my hair and makeup have to be perfect. I thought this is what you wanted from me. I thought I had to be my best in order to represent You. God was silent.
The words He spoke to me that day have been branded upon my heart, especially “You have missed out on much that I’ve had for you...Get over yourself.” Paul’s words about his insufficiency took on a whole different meaning for me from that moment on. He said, “Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
Since He spoke to me, I’ve made a quality decision ‘to get over myself’. Why? Because I want God’s will for my life more than I care about how I appear to others. How about you? Do you have some particular thing that you need to get over in order to reach that place to which God is calling you? Could it be the fear of appearing foolish in front of others? It’s time to became more focused on Him and less on you.
It’s amazing to me how He uses us in spite of ourselves. I am convinced that He wants to use you, and me as well, even in a greater way and take us to new levels, but in order to do so, we must get over ourselves. I started reflecting over my life and realized I had missed many things for fear of making a fool out of myself. Like the time I quit the basketball team because I didn’t want everyone at the school watching me in case I messed up. I never learned to dance because I felt too self-conscious, and as a result, I still have two left feet and stiffen up every time my husband tries to whirl me around. And more recently, times I had prophetic utterances for international ministries and feared they would not accept it or that I might be wrong.
Was Facebook that important to my destiny? It wasn’t Facebook itself, but the process. Facebook was a dying to self for me, doing something I was not familiar with nor was I comfortable doing. In times past I might have let a few extra pounds hold me back. But now, I’ve even gone forward with my hair sticking straight up or my worst yet the time I put black mascara on my eyebrows, trying to cover a couple of grey hairs. It made me look like a cavewoman (or Groucho Marx for those of you who remember him). Yes, I can say I’ve come a long way, baby! Facebook was only a small step of obedience to a giant leap to where He is leading me. Get ready to take your small step that will launch you into a giant leap into your destiny.
Not long after the Lord spoke to me about getting over myself, I went to a meeting and brought forth the same message to the crowd. Later, I received a text message with a photo from a very classy and well-to-do woman. It was a picture of her expensive leather jacket with the price tag hanging from it. Her message was “I guess I’m getting over myself. I walked around at your meeting all day with the tag sticking out!” That tickled me!
God spoke to Gideon’s inferiorities. Gideon had to be willing to get over himself. It was then and only then that God raised him up to be the sixth Judge of Israel to deliver Israel from an enemy nation who had brought them under servitude.
Jesus came down and sat down under an Oak Tree to observe Gideon who was actively at work, threshing wheat at a winepress. The winepress belonged to Joash, Gideon’s father. Gideon was threshing wheat at a winepress, in hopes of hiding the precious wheat from the Midianites who ravished the land. Israel was in servitude to Midian. He threshed the wheat himself, not using the servants of his father, for the wheat was too precious to entrust to his father’s servants. The wheat was their means of survival. Gideon beat the wheat with a flail (manual threshing implement), choosing not the customary way—oxen to tread the wheat. The oxen would have been too noisome. It was not an easy task that Gideon had taken upon himself.
“there came an Angel of the Lord, and sat under an Oak, which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash, the Abiezrite: and his son, Gideon, threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites” (Jdg. 6:11).
The Angel of the Lord was Jesus as revealed in Verses 23-24. The Lord received Gideon’s sacrifice, and Gideon realized that he had seen God. Gideon’s belief was that if a man saw God, face-to-face, he would die. A man cannot see the Father God, but He can see God in Jesus (Exo. 33:20; Gen. 32:30). Jesus is the express image of God (Heb. 1:3).
After Jesus watched Gideon for an undetermined amount of time, Jesus allowed Himself to be seen by Gideon. Not only did Jesus appear to him but, also, He spoke to him, declaring to Gideon his purpose and his destiny. Jesus had been moved to deliver Israel and Gideon would become His instrument of deliverance. Gideon became the 6th Judge of Israel.
“And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor (Jdg. 6:12).”
Jesus said, “The Lord is with you, mighty man of valor”. This was the confession that Jesus made over Gideon; (1) The Lord is with you; (2) You mighty man of valor. For God to be with you means He’s there to help, to assist, to help you finish your course. Gideon acted anything but a mighty man of valor (heroism, bravery and courage). He was hiding! God saw Gideon not as he was, hiding, but as a great man of bravery. God never looks at us as we are, but He sees us for what we will become. He saw Gideon as He “would be” because the Lord would be with him and make him brave.
And Gideon said unto Him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. (Jdg. 6:13)
By Gideon’s two questions two of his thoughts were revealed:
1. Gideon’s meditation was on the people—It seemed that Gideon’s thoughts centered on the nation and its poverty and destitution, “Why then is all this befallen us?” This revealed the extreme dread in which the nation lived and the condition and quality of their lives. Misery and great distress were evident to all Israelites during this time.
2. Gideon’s meditation was on the God of Israel—The condition of his people led him to think on the God of Israel. Where is the God of miracles? Where is the God Who brought us up from Egypt? He answered his own questions with the following answer, “But now the Lord has forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” There were two questions, though, that he should have asked: Why did the Lord forsake us and why did he deliver us into the hands of the Midianites? The answer to this question was found in Jdg. 6:10, prophesied by the unknown Prophet, “but you have not obeyed My voice”.
JESUS DEALT WITH GIDEON’S INFERIORITIES
14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this your might, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you? 15 And he said unto Him, Oh my Lord, with what shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house (vv 14-15).
With what shall I save Israel? Gideon considered himself the most unlikely source to save Israel. Why? He had a poor self-image. “I am the least in my father’s house.” His family projected his poor self-image onto him. They considered him to be the least, so he considered himself of no account.
And the Lord said unto him, Surely, I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man (v 16).
The Lord telling Gideon that He would be with him answered all his objections based on his thoughts of his self-worth and self-confidence. Jesus told Gideon that the defeat of the Midianites would be as easy as slaying one man and that their defeat would be so complete that none would be left.
Gideon asked Jesus for a sign (v 17). Gideon, like Peter, who said, “If it be You, bid me come” (Mat. 14:28), asked the Lord to confirm that it was really the Lord speaking to him and not just a mere stranger. Gideon requested of the Lord that He not leave from under the Oak Tree until he returned with a “present” or sacrifice (v 18). And God was happy to do so. God answered Gideon’s request, working patiently with Gideon to assure him that it was He, the Lord, indeed, who was guiding him. Jesus told Gideon to put the meal upon the rock that was nearby (v 20). Then the Lord touched the sacrifice with the tip of His staff and the sacrifice was consumed by fire (v 21). His appearance to Gideon with His staff symbolized that He was the Shepherd of Israel. Jesus vanished before Gideon’s eyes (v 21). Gideon perceived it was God and was afraid he would die. A voice spoke to him from Heaven, as had happened to Hagar (Gen. 21:17) and Paul (Act. 9:4), and said, “Peace be unto you; fear not: you shall not die (v 23).
Gideon built an altar and called it “Jehovah-Shalom” (v 24), which means “The Revealing One is Peace” or “The Lord My Peace”. This name of God prophetically spoke of the peace that God would soon bring to Israel. Also, the name of God spoke peace to Gideon’s fears and inferiorities. And God will speak peace to your inferiorities, too! It’s time to GET OVER YOURSELF.