I AM A SAVIOR
Two weeks ago in Bible Study, I shared that we are saviors to the world. I made the point of making a clear distinction between “The Savior” who is Jesus, the Christ, and “a savior” who I believe we are called to be.
As we walk through the Book of Judges, we see God calling ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things for His glory. Too often, we do not see ourselves as capable, qualified and/or worthy to be used by God to be a savior to others. Too often, we focus more on what we do not have than on what we do have. Too often, we look at others, compare ourselves to them, then conclude that we could not possibly be used by God for anything that is significant or meaningful.
The study of the book of Judges teaches us that first, none of us are capable, qualified and/or worthy to be used by God to be saviors to others. Each one of us, no matter how great or wonderful we may appear to be on the outside, are struggling with things on the inside. Each one of us has our faults, failures and frailties that would disqualify us from being in a position to be used by God.
Second, It is only the power of the Holy Spirit that equips us to overcome our faults, failures and frailties to be able to be used by God. Therefore, it does not matter who we are, what we have or what we have done, since we have the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we have more than we need to accomplish the calling that God has placed upon us.
Following is a brief overview of the Judges that we have studied, and their ability to be saviors for their people.
- Othinel The Spirit of the LORD came upon him
- Ehud God used Ehud’s difference/uniqueness for His glory (Ehud
was a left-handed man living in a right- handed world)
- Shamgar Shamgar used what he had (Shamgar used a sharp, wooden
stick to kill 600 Philistines)
- Deborah Deborah embraced who she was with faith and courage,
and excelled (Deborah was doing a “man’s job” (prophetess
and judge) in a “man’s world” (patrilineal society)
Prayerfully, we are beginning to understand what it means for God’s hand to be on us. When the hand of God is on us, the Spirit of the LORD is on us, God used our difference/uniqueness for His glory, we use what we have, and we embrace who she was with faith and courage, and excel.
In 2017, may we all be Conscious and Intentional
