Becoming the you, that you were meant to be Part 2

Read part one here

Young people, who are you? I see the handsome faces, the beautiful smiles, the stylish hairdos but really, who are you? Do you even know? Do you know you were created for a purpose? Are you the you God meant you to be?

When the angel of God met Gideon he said to him in verse 12 The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. At that moment Gideon felt nothing like a warrior, in fact he felt defeated, like a nobody. He felt forsaken by God and he said so. He wanted to know, if God was with them then why was all of these things happening to them.

Isn’t it amazing how we question God doing the bad times? Why is it that we think he’s like our fair weather friends who are only with us doing the highs in our lives and leaves us during the lows? Why is it that when everything is going well we have no doubt whatsoever that God is with us but the moment something bad happens we think he’s forsaken us?

God didn’t promise us sunshine always. He didn’t say that nothing would ever go wrong in our lives. However, we know that through the storms of our lives he is only a prayer away.

At Gideon’s point of greatest weakness, of darkest despair God called him to save his people. Isn’t it just like God to wait until we feel like we’re at a moment of weakness to call us to do something that takes a whole lot of strength?

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. Judges 6:15

At this point Gideon couldn’t see in himself what God saw in him. God saw a mighty warrior but Gideon saw himself as the runt of the litter. How do you see yourself? What is it that is hindering you from becoming the person that you were meant to be? Do you believe in yourself? Do you know that God has called you to be more than you are at this very moment?

You may be broken, you may be wounded, you may be scarred. Your self esteem may be in pieces. It may seem to your parents, your family, your friends that all is well with you but inside you know that you are hurting. You are still hurting from some hurtful comment that your parents made. You may be still smarting from some careless remark that your teacher made. You may be one that is picked on at school, you may be under some intense pressure or dealing with something that we know nothing about. Even your best friend may have left some scars on your heart. All of these things have come together to form the concept that you now have of yourself. The concept that has stunted your growth as a young man, a young lady, a mature man a mature woman.

But God is saying today, in spite of all of this I still see the you that you were meant to be. I still have a future planned for you and I still want you to become the person that you are meant to be. All you have to do is believe in me. Accept as your reality the picture I have of you.


Youth's Sunday
May 15, 2005