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When I think of this kind of message the first person that comes to my mind is usually Gideon. He was a young man from Israel, of the Tribe of Manessah, living at a time when Israel was being oppressed by Midianites and Amalekites. I know that unfortunately, that can come off as a little tone deaf given the climate in today’s current events, but for the purpose of setting up this article, I’m simply referencing Judges 6 in the Bible. The story tells how Gideon became a judge of Israel and how in the process of this happening, Gideon, has an encounter with an angel.
The angel and Gideon have a back and forth, which is a sermon right there. Some of you haven’t had your breakthrough because you’re unwilling to experience an existential crisis first. After Gideon has a deeper revelation the angel of the Lord famously says, “Go in the strength that you have…” I am aware of leaders and other individuals in the world not experiencing a certain level of success relative to their abilities.
You don’t even have to think too hard, just be considerate of someone else other than yourself for a moment, to at least sympathize but ideally empathize with young people 18-29 years old, who despite going to school or becoming skilled at something can’t find meaningful work that pays meaningfully. Maybe you’re the kind of leader I referred to earlier who was promised a promotion 2-3 years ago, who may have waited patiently while people around you got promoted or left the organization, and now that it’s “your turn” the company isn’t hiring at the moment.
If you are an educated black man, for example (I single us out because I can personally relate to the following experience and there is political and economic precedent for this phenomenon among this people group) a descendant of a slave in America, potentially one of the more demoralizing things you may have to do, or you are doing is, sending out 10s upon 100s of job applications every week upon month year after year just to adopt a slave mindset to be happy that you haven’t made any material progress, but at least things aren’t what they could be. But, the fact that you even know what a slave mentality is or that you are skilled enough to qualify for the jobs you’ve been applying to, tells me that you’re threshing wheat in a winepress.
Since I brought up gender, I get annoyed when I hear about the “male crisis”, but as a man I can empathize with my fellow men who feel disenfranchised in their society. Another example is career women who can’t seem to find a man at all or one that will treat them better. What I am highlighting with these examples is that you are capable. You are accomplished. You have skills and have the capacity to make a difference, but you may not have the opportunities to make the difference you would like to make for various reasons that stifle you for one reason or another. Gideon wasn’t threshing wheat in a winepress because he didn’t know how to thresh wheat. He was making do with his circumstances because of the hardships he was facing.
The various circumstances in the world both objective and subjective, make it not surprising that there are people who aren’t reaching their fullest potential not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t see a reasonable way that they can. The revelation I want to bring to you is that you are too capable to be so obscure. This should usher in a breakthrough for somebody because instead of asking “why not?” you should start asking “how can…?” The idea of threshing wheat in a winepress, or doing the right thing in the wrong place, is a call to do something else. Go in the strength that you have literally implies that you don’t have new skills or new strengths but the strengths that you have will better serve elsewhere.
Your next level is on the other side of your ability to transfer your skillset. Do what you’re doing right now somewhere or someway else. I’m a culprit of this as well. Just before writing this I was articulating to God how myself and or people like me should be elevated and able to have more social significance in certain realms of reality. But you don’t need to be elevated to have an impact, in fact you can have more impact by not being elevated because the higher you go, the more you have to think about self-preservation. And not only that, but when I consider the opportunities and platforms people of influence get to monopolize, your 15 minutes of fame may just be that, 15 minutes.
Gideon was a Judge over Israel for 40 years. You may want a moment but God wants you to have a career. Maybe it’s not a career but it’s something equivalent to that meaning something you dedicate your ability to. Take all that you have right now and instead of being discouraged by what hasn’t happened, ask yourself how you can make something of and for yourself. Stop being upset that your conditions aren’t ideal, you’re ideal. Your circumstances are what you need to make the life you want where you are. And I know that there are caveats but the point is that regardless of the caveats you still have perspicacity. Stop complaining about your metaphorical, proverbial, or maybe even literal house, and use your current skills and resources to make that house a home.
My last point is making your proverbial house a home looks like saying to yourself, “this” is who I am, “this” is what I have, and “this” is where I am at. I don’t like X, Y, and Z, about my circumstances and regardless of my efforts in this scenario my enemy is beating me/my context is overwhelming. That said, instead of giving up or hanging my head low, I am going to take who I am and what I have and deploy my resources in such a way where my circumstances don’t have me but I have them. You take control of your circumstances by not succumbing to them and ultimately by changing them.
The challenge in this mindset shift is that sometimes you may feel as though your circumstances are too great. Maybe nothing in this article is new to you and you wanted to leave your town years ago. It’s possible that you’ve been on a tirade for a pay raise for nearly a decade. Or maybe family dynamics keep you from making a significant change. There is a time to consider changing all of those and similar circumstances, but I’m not talking about that. Your circumstances don’t have to change and you don’t have to change. All you have to do is do what you’ve been doing, differently. You’ve been trying to leave but can’t; then don’t; figure out why you’re still around and repurpose that purpose. Instead of being upset that you haven’t gained new ground in the way you wanted to, gain new ground where you are. Gideon didn’t leave Israel; he became the effective ruler of it for 40 years.
You want to advance in your career but you’re stagnant. Don’t be mad if certain doors won’t open, do what you have to do to find or build the door that will. Family responsibilities may have you down but instead of the nuclear option of leaving your family, reorganize your family to accommodate your needs to make you a better person for them. You’re too powerful, creative, capable, and intelligent to be discouraged in a place you can make better. There is a time and a place to seek out greener pastures and there is a time and a place to get some grass seeds, healthy dirt, and gardening tools and to work on your pastures.
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