Our Daily Journey Devotional: Through His Eyes- September 7, 2017

Read: 

Judges 6:11-16
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” (Judges 6:12).

   

As I first listened to the Christian song “Through Your Eyes” by Britt Nicole, the image my mind conjured up was of a sinful me cowering before a spotless God ablaze in holiness. The thought of Him seeing me through His pure and perfect eyes left me squirming and uncomfortable—certain He wouldn’t find much good there. When the lyrics finally registered, however, I realized that my guilt had caused me to miss the song’s message of hope. Although I can often only see my failures, God sees something beautiful and goes out of His way to wake me up to that fact.

Gideon must have felt similarly surprised when the angel of the Lord hailed him as a “mighty hero” (Judges 6:12). For someone who’d been hiding in the bottom of a winepress in order to shield his grain from the enemy Midianites, “mighty hero” might have seemed like hyperbole. But the angel didn’t stop there. He turned to Gideon and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” (Judges 6:14). “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” (Judges 6:15).

Through God’s miraculous work and Gideon’s obedience, He used Gideon and 300 men to defeat the entire Midianite army (Judges 7:1-25). Yet Gideon had been full of doubt and repeatedly asked God for signs (Judges 6:1-40). It took the reality of victory to open his eyes to what God had already declared about him.

Like Gideon, we may often view ourselves and others through a lens that fixates on weakness and failure. Today, let’s purpose to take a page from God’s book and focus on the very best we each have to offer, all based in His provision.

NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today:Luke 21:1-24

More: 

Read Psalm 139:1-18 for the context behind God’s intimate knowledge of who we are.

Next: 

Do you typically see the best or worst in people? What drives your tendency in either direction? How would your perspective change if you adopted God’s view?