August 21, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode of 'Joy in Every Step', Sarita discusses the theme of surrendering to healing, emphasizing the importance of letting go of control and trusting in God's plan. She shares personal experiences and biblical stories, with a particular focus on Gideon's journey from fear and doubt to faith and action. The conversation highlights the connection between mental health, trauma, and spiritual growth, encouraging listeners to embrace the healing process through prayer and reliance on God's promises.
Takeaways
- Surrendering to healing requires letting go of control.
- The mind plays a crucial role in our spiritual and emotional health.
- Gideon's story illustrates how one can overcome fear and doubt through faith.
- God's patience is evident in how He builds our faith.
- Trusting God means relying on His understanding, not our own.
- Surrendering to healing is a daily discipline.
- God promises to heal the brokenhearted and bind up wounds.
- We are created in God's image and reflect His nature.
- Emotional and spiritual healing are part of God's promises.
- Practicing surrender involves visualizing the release of worries.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Introduction (00:03):
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful through
(00:31):
the valleys or dancing on themountaintops, Sarita's voice
will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:54):
Hi. I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I'm glad you're
here. In the last episode, wetalked about the value of
solitude. During a tough time inmy life, I learned that I needed
to spend time alone with theLord.
Alone with the Lord, he was ableto calm my fears and help me to
(01:19):
see my situation clearly and torespond in a way that made sense
as I moved forward with my life.God was literally showing me my
next steps if and only if Iwould surrender to healing,
surrendering to healing. That'swhat we're going to talk about
today. It was in that seasonthat I just mentioned that I
(01:41):
discovered that I was soobsessed with regaining control
of my life. So very focused onthe next move.
So anxious about getting it alljust right that I was missing
out, missing out on some veryprecious times. Life was flying
by and I was missing some ofwhat the Lord wanted me to
(02:01):
enjoy. When the Lord broughtthat to my attention, I was a
classroom teacher in a spacethat had floor to ceiling
whiteboards. I rememberrequesting the use of a ladder
and climbing that ladder andwriting at the very top of that
board in big red letters,surrender Dorothy. When I wrote
(02:23):
the phrase up there initially, Ihad a hidden reason.
I knew some of my students couldread and I wanted them to think
it was just another one of missSarita's ways to acknowledge her
love of movies and Broadwayshows but there was indeed
something deeper going on at thetime. You may recognize that
(02:44):
famous phrase from The Wizard ofOz, surrender Dorothy. In the
film, the wicked witch of theWest uses smoke coming from her
broomstick to write that messagein the sky. The message is a way
for her to intimidate and it's adirect threat aimed at Dorothy
and the entire community. Thecommunity is being told to give
(03:08):
her up or be prepared to pay theconsequences.
At that moment in the movie,Dorothy is enjoying the
companionship of her friends inthe land Of Oz while on the way
to see the wizard so she can getback home. I'm well aware of the
original intent of this wholescene. However, God gave me a
(03:29):
bit of a revelation back in1998. When I wrote those words,
the message to me was give herup, give her up. That person you
once were is no more.
Surrender Dorothy. There was amajor shift in my life at that
time and I needed to move fromworry and concern to a place of
(03:51):
assurance. Assurance that Godhad my life in his hands. I
needed that daily reminder togive it all to the Lord. Two
scriptures in particularprovided comfort for me during
that time.
Philippians four, six and seven,familiar passage, but this is
the message version. Don't fretor worry. Instead of worrying,
(04:12):
pray. Let petitions and praisesshape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.Before you know it, a sense of
God's wholeness, everythingcoming together for good will
come down, will come and settleyou down rather.
It's wonderful what happens whenChrist display displaces worry
(04:33):
at the center of your life. It'swonderful what happens when
Christ displaces worry at thecenter of your life. And another
one, first Peter five and seven,cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you. Thehuman brain has been designed in
(04:56):
an amazing way. Brain anatomy isbeing discussed and analyzed in
new and fascinating ways oflate.
I love it. It has taken a longtime for the world to openly
acknowledge how the Word of Godinforms us about the function of
our brains. Those verses thatwe've studied and memorized take
(05:19):
on brand new meaning when we'reable to recognize how they're
related to brain function. Makessense because we are spiritual
beings having a humanexperience, right? The Bible
stresses the importance of themind.
It tells us the mind has thepower to influence us
spiritually and to dictate ouractions. It encourages us to
(05:41):
guard our thoughts and renew ourminds daily. It also emphasizes
the practice of focusing on theimportant things, the things
that are lasting, the eternalthings. In other words, we can
have an influence on how ourminds operate. We can condition
our minds with the Word of God.
So when it comes to trauma,there are three parts of the
(06:05):
brain affected or involved ifyou will. The amygdala, this is
the region critical forprocessing one's emotions like
fear, it reacts strongly totrauma and it can become
overactive when one experiencestraumatic events. Persistent
trauma can lead to exaggeratedfear responses and a constant
(06:26):
state of alertness. This canmake it hard to tell the
difference between safety anddanger. Your brain just doesn't
know.
Next is the hippocampus. This isthe region where memories are
formed and contextualized. It'shere where exposure to trauma
can lead to disorganized,partial, intensely vivid or
(06:48):
intrusive memories anddifficulties in distinguishing
between past and present danger.The third one is the prefrontal
cortex. The prefrontal cortexalso known as the PFC.
The more I study the word of Godand the PFC, the more I
(07:12):
appreciate it in God's design.The PFC is where executive
function lives. What we'retalking about here is emotional
regulation and decision making.Trauma can weaken the PFC,
making it harder to calm thosefear responses and think
rationally during stressfulsituations. A weakened PFC
(07:36):
causes one to remain in hyperalert mode and perhaps react out
of one's emotions withoutstopping to consider the
consequences.
So considering this informationabout trauma and considering the
things the word of God tells usabout how we should steward our
minds, I'd like to offer up astory. As you listen, please
(08:00):
note how trauma affected thisindividual and how God
responded. Let's look at thestory of Gideon in Judges
chapters six through eight. NowI'm gonna summarize much of this
so we can get through it all.Stay with me though because it's
lengthy, but we know God wastesnothing.
(08:21):
Details matter to him. Listen tothe way God handles Gideon's
anxiety and his fear. Gideon wasan Israelite who found himself
hiding out in a winepressthreshing wheat. He was there
because the Israelites were inthe midst of hardship as a
result of their disobedience.Again, they're in the midst of
(08:44):
hardship as a result of theirdisobedience.
They were being oppressed byother tribes and therefore
Gideon is threshing the wheatout of sight to keep it from
being snatched up by the enemy,to keep it from being taken from
his people. In Judges sixtwelve, an angel of the Lord
(09:05):
appears to Gideon and says, theLord is with you, mighty
warrior. Gideon responds with afew questions. He basically
says, how can you say this whenall this calamity is on us? The
Lord has abandoned us and theLord tells him to go in
strength.
I'm sending you. So Gideon keepstalking. He says, how am I
(09:27):
supposed to do this? I'm fromthe weakest tribe in Israel and
the Lord comes back with, I'llbe with you and you will defeat
all your enemies. So once again,Gideon can't seem to help
himself and he tells the Lord,if it's really you, hold on a
second while I get an offeringfor you.
And the Lord says, alright, I'llwait. So Gideon gets a goat,
(09:49):
some bread and some broth and hebrings it all back and the angel
of the Lord directs him to putthe goat and the bread on a rock
and to pour that broth all overit. The angel of the Lord then
sets it all on fire and burnsthe sacrifice. That's when
Gideon realizes he's beentalking to the Lord for real,
(10:10):
and he builds an altar tomemorialize his encounter. The
story goes on with Gideonfollowing God's instructions and
destroying the instruments beingused by the people for idol
worship.
Then the people get upset andthey want him killed but his
father defends him and they canonly give him an offensive name.
So Gideon under the power of Godgathers an army together to save
(10:35):
Israel but his anxiety kicks inand he challenges the Lord to
show even more signs that hewill give him success when he
goes to war. You can read aboutthat part in Judges chapter six
verses 36 through 40. In thenext chapter, Gideon has his
army of men, they're alltogether and the Lord tells him
(10:56):
he has too many and listen forhis reason for saying that.
Listen to his reason rather forsaying that.
He says, the troops with you aretoo many for me to give the
Midianites into your hand.Therefore, he says Israel would
only take credit away from mesaying my own hand has delivered
(11:17):
me. I'm gonna read that again.The troops with you are too many
for me to give the Midianitesinto their hand. Israel would
only take credit away from mesaying my own hand has delivered
me.
Then God says, tell the ones whoare scared to go home, tell them
(11:37):
to go home. If they're ifthey're scared, tell them to
leave. And guess what happens?22,000 of the men go back home
and Gideon is left with 10,000.So God tells him there are still
too many so I'll sort themagain.
He takes the group down to thewater to drink and only keeps
(11:59):
the 300 who knelt down to lapthe water with their tongues
300, 300 from 32,000. God says,yep, that's a good number. Now
go and attack them. Go andattack the enemy. You will win.
But but the Lord says, if you'restill fearful, sneak in there
(12:20):
and eavesdrop in the camp ofyour enemies and after that,
you'll be even stronger. Godsees and God knows beloved. He's
busy building Gideon'sconfidence. So we're in chapter
seven now, and Gideon goes downto the camp and he hears a
soldier telling another soldierabout a dream that he's had. And
(12:40):
listen to this, the dream washeavy on the symbolism.
In the dream, it says, a cake ofbarley bread tumbled into the
camp of Midian and came to thetent and struck it so that it
fell. It turned upside down andthe tent collapsed. And verse 14
says, his comrade answered, oh,this is no other than the sword
(13:02):
of Gideon, son of Joash, a manof Israel into his hand God has
given Midian and all the army.So Gideon hears this retelling
and he goes back to his army of300 and he tells them, get up.
The Lord has given us thevictory.
Wow. There's a lot to unpack inthat story. For our topic today,
(13:26):
I just want to point out a fewthings. First, Gideon didn't
trust in the Lord's ability tointervene. That was a problem
from the outset.
Seven years is a long time, along time, long enough for
feelings of abandonment to setin. He had watched his tribe go
without the necessities and wasprobably experiencing
(13:48):
disappointment and evenbitterness. When one endures a
tough situation for a long time,one can become bitter. Remember,
Gideon asked the angel of theLord, if the Lord is with us,
why is all this happened to us?It was evident that Gideon was
insecure.
Gideon didn't take God at hisword. He demands repeatedly that
(14:09):
God provide him with physicalconfirmation such as the famous
fleece test. You can go and lookthat one up for yourself. We
know Gideon was experiencinganxiety and fear which resulted
from the trauma that I justmentioned. His people were
scared, they were hungry andthey were overwhelmed by their
circumstances.
We do understand that thesituation they were in was of
(14:33):
their own doing. They haddisobeyed God and they had
turned to other gods, little g.They began to worship an idol
and God did not like that. Theydid not know what they would
face next must have had thewhole tribe on edge. We know
Gideon was experiencing anxietyand fear which resulted from the
(14:55):
trauma I just mentioned.
His people were scared, hungry,and overwhelmed by their
circumstances. We do understandthat the situation they were in
was of their own doing. Theydisobeyed God and turned to
others. They began to worship anidol not knowing what they would
face next must have had thatwhole tribe on edge. Then
(15:19):
there's self doubt.
Self doubt showed up as Gideonwas called on by God. Living
under those conditions causedhim to doubt his own ability to
lead. He wasn't sure he wascapable of doing what God called
him to do. In the end though,Gideon gives in to the Lord's
plan. He believes he can leadthe army into battle and win
(15:41):
because the Lord is with him.
In Hebrews 11 verses 32 through34, Gideon, Gideon is listed as
one of the heroes of faith. He'slisted among several people in
the Bible who accomplished greatthings through their trust in
God. Gideon is remembered therebecause his faith prevailed over
(16:04):
his fear. And note again how theLord was patient with Gideon. He
took the time to carefully buildhis faith.
When I think back, I can see somany times when the Lord showed
me grace and patience. How aboutyou? During the many times when
my faith was weak or I wasfeeling anxious about moving
(16:24):
forward after a setback, he heldmy hand and showed himself to be
a loving and cover. He let meknow he was right there when I
felt insecure about who he wascalling me to be. When I needed
physical evidence of hispresence, he provided it.
So I can't hold anything againstGideon, can you? When I needed
(16:47):
time to gather myself and get myamygdala in check, he provided a
calm space to do that. Our Godministered to my hippocampus
through the word so I could seethe situation clearly so I could
recall what actually happenedand thankfully God was patient
(17:08):
and he helped usher in that PFChelped usher it into the front
of the room. Thank God for that.So I could respond to the
situation in a reasonable mannerso that I could see the
situation from God's point ofview.
A huge lesson with this story isone of surrender. Yes,
(17:32):
surrender. Gideon had to bewilling to heal the place in him
that was filled with distrust,insecurity, anxiety and yes even
fear. He had to be willing toput it all in God's hands and to
trust that he would handle it.Trust.
I believe a lot of our fears andanxieties stem from our need for
(17:53):
control. I read Philippians foursix and seven at the top of the
episode. That first encouragesus to surrender our worries to
God and to trust in hissovereignty. If we're being
honest, many of us struggle todo what Proverbs three, five and
six remind us to do. Youprobably know this one by heart.
(18:15):
Proverbs three, five and sixreminds us to trust in the Lord
with all your heart. Do notdepend on your own
understanding, his will in allyou do and he will show you
which path to take. Trust himbeloved, you can't do this on
your own. When we lean on God'sunderstanding, he orders our
(18:36):
steps. Speaking of honesty, inthe previous episode, I
highlighted the way Jesus pouredout his heart to the Father in
the Garden Of Gethsemane.
It's found in Mark 14 verses 32through 35. Remember Jesus took
Peter, James and John with himand it says he was distressed
(18:56):
and agitated and he said tothem, my soul is deeply grieved
even to death remain here andkeep awake and going a little
farther he threw himself on theground and prayed that if it
were possible the hour mightpass from him. Yes, Jesus was
upset and he didn't try to maskit. He went to the father and he
(19:19):
was honest raw feelings beloved.He let the father know he was
struggling with his assignmentin that moment.
So note again how important itmust be to the Lord that we are
honest. We see examples of thisthroughout the Word of God.
Human beings encountering toughtimes and instead of pretending
(19:39):
that they have it all together,instead of acting like
everything is going as planned,they tell God the truth about
where they are. Beloved, that'swhat He wants from us. He wants
us to come to Him and lay itdown so He can remind us of His
word and His intentions for ourlives.
God is waiting for us to invitehim in so he can show himself to
(20:02):
be trustworthy and a strongtower. Surrendering to healing
is work. It's not easy.Surrendering to healing requires
that we replace those thoughtscentered around our trauma or
our hardships. We have tosurrender and dig into God's
Word.
We can dig in and see what hehas to say about us. Genesis one
(20:26):
twenty seven lets us know thatGod created us in his image and
likeness. We reflect his nature.He says we're deeply loved in
Romans eight thirty eight andthirty nine. Nothing can
separate us from his love.
Second Timothy three andseventeen reminds us that we're
equipped for good works. We'reequipped for good works. It says
(20:47):
all scripture is inspired by Godand is useful to teach us what
is true and God uses it toprepare and equip his people to
do every good work and Ephesiansone and five makes it clear God
decided in advance to adopt usinto his own family by bringing
(21:08):
us to himself through ChristJesus. This is what he wanted to
do and it gave him goodpleasure. I love that last part.
This is what he wanted to do andit gave him great pleasure.
Three final verses for you.Psalm one hundred forty seven
and three, He heals thebrokenhearted and binds up their
wounds. That's a promise. Hebinds up the wounds.
(21:32):
That means He stitches us upbeloved, He closes it, He closes
up our wounds, let Him in there.Jeremiah 3zero 17 says, I will
give you back your health andheal your wounds, says the Lord.
Boom! Another promise of notjust physical healing, but
(21:52):
emotional and spiritual healingas well. Isaiah 5seven 18 I have
seen their ways, but I will healthem.
He's seen who we are, He's seenall of it and He's still going
to do what He said, He willheal. Practice the daily
discipline of surrender. Realizereleasing your worry, your fear
(22:15):
and your pain. Put it all inGod's hands and allow him to
carry it. Then agree to submitto the healing process.
You've been listening to Joy inEvery Step. I'm Sarita
Bernadette and I'm grateful youchose to spend some time here
with me. You can find Joy inEvery Step wherever you listen
(22:37):
to your podcasts and give us afollow there. Do check out the
website at joyineverystep.org.
Welcome to a place of peace, hope, and divine
encouragement. This is Joy inEvery Step with your host,
beloved preacher, retiredteacher, and faithful through
(00:31):
the valleys or dancing on themountaintops, Sarita's voice
will guide you back to hispromises step by step. So open
your heart, settle your spirit,and take the next step in faith
with joy in every step.
Sarita Bernadette (00:54):
Hi. I'm Sarita Bernadette, and welcome
back to another episode of Joyin Every Step. I'm glad you're
here. In the last episode, wetalked about the value of
solitude. During a tough time inmy life, I learned that I needed
to spend time alone with theLord.
Alone with the Lord, he was ableto calm my fears and help me to
(01:19):
see my situation clearly and torespond in a way that made sense
as I moved forward with my life.God was literally showing me my
next steps if and only if Iwould surrender to healing,
surrendering to healing. That'swhat we're going to talk about
today. It was in that seasonthat I just mentioned that I
(01:41):
discovered that I was soobsessed with regaining control
of my life. So very focused onthe next move.
So anxious about getting it alljust right that I was missing
out, missing out on some veryprecious times. Life was flying
by and I was missing some ofwhat the Lord wanted me to
(02:01):
enjoy. When the Lord broughtthat to my attention, I was a
classroom teacher in a spacethat had floor to ceiling
whiteboards. I rememberrequesting the use of a ladder
and climbing that ladder andwriting at the very top of that
board in big red letters,surrender Dorothy. When I wrote
(02:23):
the phrase up there initially, Ihad a hidden reason.
I knew some of my students couldread and I wanted them to think
it was just another one of missSarita's ways to acknowledge her
love of movies and Broadwayshows but there was indeed
something deeper going on at thetime. You may recognize that
(02:44):
famous phrase from The Wizard ofOz, surrender Dorothy. In the
film, the wicked witch of theWest uses smoke coming from her
broomstick to write that messagein the sky. The message is a way
for her to intimidate and it's adirect threat aimed at Dorothy
and the entire community. Thecommunity is being told to give
(03:08):
her up or be prepared to pay theconsequences.
At that moment in the movie,Dorothy is enjoying the
companionship of her friends inthe land Of Oz while on the way
to see the wizard so she can getback home. I'm well aware of the
original intent of this wholescene. However, God gave me a
(03:29):
bit of a revelation back in1998. When I wrote those words,
the message to me was give herup, give her up. That person you
once were is no more.
Surrender Dorothy. There was amajor shift in my life at that
time and I needed to move fromworry and concern to a place of
(03:51):
assurance. Assurance that Godhad my life in his hands. I
needed that daily reminder togive it all to the Lord. Two
scriptures in particularprovided comfort for me during
that time.
Philippians four, six and seven,familiar passage, but this is
the message version. Don't fretor worry. Instead of worrying,
(04:12):
pray. Let petitions and praisesshape your worries into prayers,
letting God know your concerns.Before you know it, a sense of
God's wholeness, everythingcoming together for good will
come down, will come and settleyou down rather.
It's wonderful what happens whenChrist display displaces worry
(04:33):
at the center of your life. It'swonderful what happens when
Christ displaces worry at thecenter of your life. And another
one, first Peter five and seven,cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you. Thehuman brain has been designed in
(04:56):
an amazing way. Brain anatomy isbeing discussed and analyzed in
new and fascinating ways oflate.
I love it. It has taken a longtime for the world to openly
acknowledge how the Word of Godinforms us about the function of
our brains. Those verses thatwe've studied and memorized take
(05:19):
on brand new meaning when we'reable to recognize how they're
related to brain function. Makessense because we are spiritual
beings having a humanexperience, right? The Bible
stresses the importance of themind.
It tells us the mind has thepower to influence us
spiritually and to dictate ouractions. It encourages us to
(05:41):
guard our thoughts and renew ourminds daily. It also emphasizes
the practice of focusing on theimportant things, the things
that are lasting, the eternalthings. In other words, we can
have an influence on how ourminds operate. We can condition
our minds with the Word of God.
So when it comes to trauma,there are three parts of the
(06:05):
brain affected or involved ifyou will. The amygdala, this is
the region critical forprocessing one's emotions like
fear, it reacts strongly totrauma and it can become
overactive when one experiencestraumatic events. Persistent
trauma can lead to exaggeratedfear responses and a constant
(06:26):
state of alertness. This canmake it hard to tell the
difference between safety anddanger. Your brain just doesn't
know.
Next is the hippocampus. This isthe region where memories are
formed and contextualized. It'shere where exposure to trauma
can lead to disorganized,partial, intensely vivid or
(06:48):
intrusive memories anddifficulties in distinguishing
between past and present danger.The third one is the prefrontal
cortex. The prefrontal cortexalso known as the PFC.
The more I study the word of Godand the PFC, the more I
(07:12):
appreciate it in God's design.The PFC is where executive
function lives. What we'retalking about here is emotional
regulation and decision making.Trauma can weaken the PFC,
making it harder to calm thosefear responses and think
rationally during stressfulsituations. A weakened PFC
(07:36):
causes one to remain in hyperalert mode and perhaps react out
of one's emotions withoutstopping to consider the
consequences.
So considering this informationabout trauma and considering the
things the word of God tells usabout how we should steward our
minds, I'd like to offer up astory. As you listen, please
(08:00):
note how trauma affected thisindividual and how God
responded. Let's look at thestory of Gideon in Judges
chapters six through eight. NowI'm gonna summarize much of this
so we can get through it all.Stay with me though because it's
lengthy, but we know God wastesnothing.
(08:21):
Details matter to him. Listen tothe way God handles Gideon's
anxiety and his fear. Gideon wasan Israelite who found himself
hiding out in a winepressthreshing wheat. He was there
because the Israelites were inthe midst of hardship as a
result of their disobedience.Again, they're in the midst of
(08:44):
hardship as a result of theirdisobedience.
They were being oppressed byother tribes and therefore
Gideon is threshing the wheatout of sight to keep it from
being snatched up by the enemy,to keep it from being taken from
his people. In Judges sixtwelve, an angel of the Lord
(09:05):
appears to Gideon and says, theLord is with you, mighty
warrior. Gideon responds with afew questions. He basically
says, how can you say this whenall this calamity is on us? The
Lord has abandoned us and theLord tells him to go in
strength.
I'm sending you. So Gideon keepstalking. He says, how am I
(09:27):
supposed to do this? I'm fromthe weakest tribe in Israel and
the Lord comes back with, I'llbe with you and you will defeat
all your enemies. So once again,Gideon can't seem to help
himself and he tells the Lord,if it's really you, hold on a
second while I get an offeringfor you.
And the Lord says, alright, I'llwait. So Gideon gets a goat,
(09:49):
some bread and some broth and hebrings it all back and the angel
of the Lord directs him to putthe goat and the bread on a rock
and to pour that broth all overit. The angel of the Lord then
sets it all on fire and burnsthe sacrifice. That's when
Gideon realizes he's beentalking to the Lord for real,
(10:10):
and he builds an altar tomemorialize his encounter. The
story goes on with Gideonfollowing God's instructions and
destroying the instruments beingused by the people for idol
worship.
Then the people get upset andthey want him killed but his
father defends him and they canonly give him an offensive name.
So Gideon under the power of Godgathers an army together to save
(10:35):
Israel but his anxiety kicks inand he challenges the Lord to
show even more signs that hewill give him success when he
goes to war. You can read aboutthat part in Judges chapter six
verses 36 through 40. In thenext chapter, Gideon has his
army of men, they're alltogether and the Lord tells him
(10:56):
he has too many and listen forhis reason for saying that.
Listen to his reason rather forsaying that.
He says, the troops with you aretoo many for me to give the
Midianites into your hand.Therefore, he says Israel would
only take credit away from mesaying my own hand has delivered
(11:17):
me. I'm gonna read that again.The troops with you are too many
for me to give the Midianitesinto their hand. Israel would
only take credit away from mesaying my own hand has delivered
me.
Then God says, tell the ones whoare scared to go home, tell them
(11:37):
to go home. If they're ifthey're scared, tell them to
leave. And guess what happens?22,000 of the men go back home
and Gideon is left with 10,000.So God tells him there are still
too many so I'll sort themagain.
He takes the group down to thewater to drink and only keeps
(11:59):
the 300 who knelt down to lapthe water with their tongues
300, 300 from 32,000. God says,yep, that's a good number. Now
go and attack them. Go andattack the enemy. You will win.
But but the Lord says, if you'restill fearful, sneak in there
(12:20):
and eavesdrop in the camp ofyour enemies and after that,
you'll be even stronger. Godsees and God knows beloved. He's
busy building Gideon'sconfidence. So we're in chapter
seven now, and Gideon goes downto the camp and he hears a
soldier telling another soldierabout a dream that he's had. And
(12:40):
listen to this, the dream washeavy on the symbolism.
In the dream, it says, a cake ofbarley bread tumbled into the
camp of Midian and came to thetent and struck it so that it
fell. It turned upside down andthe tent collapsed. And verse 14
says, his comrade answered, oh,this is no other than the sword
(13:02):
of Gideon, son of Joash, a manof Israel into his hand God has
given Midian and all the army.So Gideon hears this retelling
and he goes back to his army of300 and he tells them, get up.
The Lord has given us thevictory.
Wow. There's a lot to unpack inthat story. For our topic today,
(13:26):
I just want to point out a fewthings. First, Gideon didn't
trust in the Lord's ability tointervene. That was a problem
from the outset.
Seven years is a long time, along time, long enough for
feelings of abandonment to setin. He had watched his tribe go
without the necessities and wasprobably experiencing
(13:48):
disappointment and evenbitterness. When one endures a
tough situation for a long time,one can become bitter. Remember,
Gideon asked the angel of theLord, if the Lord is with us,
why is all this happened to us?It was evident that Gideon was
insecure.
Gideon didn't take God at hisword. He demands repeatedly that
(14:09):
God provide him with physicalconfirmation such as the famous
fleece test. You can go and lookthat one up for yourself. We
know Gideon was experiencinganxiety and fear which resulted
from the trauma that I justmentioned. His people were
scared, they were hungry andthey were overwhelmed by their
circumstances.
We do understand that thesituation they were in was of
(14:33):
their own doing. They haddisobeyed God and they had
turned to other gods, little g.They began to worship an idol
and God did not like that. Theydid not know what they would
face next must have had thewhole tribe on edge. We know
Gideon was experiencing anxietyand fear which resulted from the
(14:55):
trauma I just mentioned.
His people were scared, hungry,and overwhelmed by their
circumstances. We do understandthat the situation they were in
was of their own doing. Theydisobeyed God and turned to
others. They began to worship anidol not knowing what they would
face next must have had thatwhole tribe on edge. Then
(15:19):
there's self doubt.
Self doubt showed up as Gideonwas called on by God. Living
under those conditions causedhim to doubt his own ability to
lead. He wasn't sure he wascapable of doing what God called
him to do. In the end though,Gideon gives in to the Lord's
plan. He believes he can leadthe army into battle and win
(15:41):
because the Lord is with him.
In Hebrews 11 verses 32 through34, Gideon, Gideon is listed as
one of the heroes of faith. He'slisted among several people in
the Bible who accomplished greatthings through their trust in
God. Gideon is remembered therebecause his faith prevailed over
(16:04):
his fear. And note again how theLord was patient with Gideon. He
took the time to carefully buildhis faith.
When I think back, I can see somany times when the Lord showed
me grace and patience. How aboutyou? During the many times when
my faith was weak or I wasfeeling anxious about moving
(16:24):
forward after a setback, he heldmy hand and showed himself to be
a loving and cover. He let meknow he was right there when I
felt insecure about who he wascalling me to be. When I needed
physical evidence of hispresence, he provided it.
So I can't hold anything againstGideon, can you? When I needed
(16:47):
time to gather myself and get myamygdala in check, he provided a
calm space to do that. Our Godministered to my hippocampus
through the word so I could seethe situation clearly so I could
recall what actually happenedand thankfully God was patient
(17:08):
and he helped usher in that PFChelped usher it into the front
of the room. Thank God for that.So I could respond to the
situation in a reasonable mannerso that I could see the
situation from God's point ofview.
A huge lesson with this story isone of surrender. Yes,
(17:32):
surrender. Gideon had to bewilling to heal the place in him
that was filled with distrust,insecurity, anxiety and yes even
fear. He had to be willing toput it all in God's hands and to
trust that he would handle it.Trust.
I believe a lot of our fears andanxieties stem from our need for
(17:53):
control. I read Philippians foursix and seven at the top of the
episode. That first encouragesus to surrender our worries to
God and to trust in hissovereignty. If we're being
honest, many of us struggle todo what Proverbs three, five and
six remind us to do. Youprobably know this one by heart.
(18:15):
Proverbs three, five and sixreminds us to trust in the Lord
with all your heart. Do notdepend on your own
understanding, his will in allyou do and he will show you
which path to take. Trust himbeloved, you can't do this on
your own. When we lean on God'sunderstanding, he orders our
(18:36):
steps. Speaking of honesty, inthe previous episode, I
highlighted the way Jesus pouredout his heart to the Father in
the Garden Of Gethsemane.
It's found in Mark 14 verses 32through 35. Remember Jesus took
Peter, James and John with himand it says he was distressed
(18:56):
and agitated and he said tothem, my soul is deeply grieved
even to death remain here andkeep awake and going a little
farther he threw himself on theground and prayed that if it
were possible the hour mightpass from him. Yes, Jesus was
upset and he didn't try to maskit. He went to the father and he
(19:19):
was honest raw feelings beloved.He let the father know he was
struggling with his assignmentin that moment.
So note again how important itmust be to the Lord that we are
honest. We see examples of thisthroughout the Word of God.
Human beings encountering toughtimes and instead of pretending
(19:39):
that they have it all together,instead of acting like
everything is going as planned,they tell God the truth about
where they are. Beloved, that'swhat He wants from us. He wants
us to come to Him and lay itdown so He can remind us of His
word and His intentions for ourlives.
God is waiting for us to invitehim in so he can show himself to
(20:02):
be trustworthy and a strongtower. Surrendering to healing
is work. It's not easy.Surrendering to healing requires
that we replace those thoughtscentered around our trauma or
our hardships. We have tosurrender and dig into God's
Word.
We can dig in and see what hehas to say about us. Genesis one
(20:26):
twenty seven lets us know thatGod created us in his image and
likeness. We reflect his nature.He says we're deeply loved in
Romans eight thirty eight andthirty nine. Nothing can
separate us from his love.
Second Timothy three andseventeen reminds us that we're
equipped for good works. We'reequipped for good works. It says
(20:47):
all scripture is inspired by Godand is useful to teach us what
is true and God uses it toprepare and equip his people to
do every good work and Ephesiansone and five makes it clear God
decided in advance to adopt usinto his own family by bringing
(21:08):
us to himself through ChristJesus. This is what he wanted to
do and it gave him goodpleasure. I love that last part.
This is what he wanted to do andit gave him great pleasure.
Three final verses for you.Psalm one hundred forty seven
and three, He heals thebrokenhearted and binds up their
wounds. That's a promise. Hebinds up the wounds.
(21:32):
That means He stitches us upbeloved, He closes it, He closes
up our wounds, let Him in there.Jeremiah 3zero 17 says, I will
give you back your health andheal your wounds, says the Lord.
Boom! Another promise of notjust physical healing, but
(21:52):
emotional and spiritual healingas well. Isaiah 5seven 18 I have
seen their ways, but I will healthem.
He's seen who we are, He's seenall of it and He's still going
to do what He said, He willheal. Practice the daily
discipline of surrender. Realizereleasing your worry, your fear
(22:15):
and your pain. Put it all inGod's hands and allow him to
carry it. Then agree to submitto the healing process.
You've been listening to Joy inEvery Step. I'm Sarita
Bernadette and I'm grateful youchose to spend some time here
with me. You can find Joy inEvery Step wherever you listen
(22:37):
to your podcasts and give us afollow there. Do check out the
website at joyineverystep.org.
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