<h1>Who Am I ? - Karen Hardin - November 19,&nbsp;2025</h1>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><img src="https://mcusercontent.com/1868b62ba50dc78bf57227c75/images/e07a183d-f7eb-f6fd-dc34-cf92e9d9c315.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="125" style="float: left;" hspace=10/>Each time you take one step forward, are you hit with a&nbsp;barrage that sends you several steps back? Have you told God, “I will be a bold witness for you,” only to immediately face a backlash that makes you think, “I won’t do that again!”<br /><br /> There isn’t a single person reading this who hasn’t&nbsp;experienced something similar. Those are tactics straight from Satan’s playbook to keep us so busy fighting battles, we can’t take ground.<br /><br /> Gideon was no different until God showed him who he was and reminded him of who He was!<br /><br /> Read Judges chapters 6-8 about Gideon. The Israelites&nbsp;had been oppressed by the Midianites for seven years. The Israelites had done evil, and so God’s blessing &amp; protection had been removed. The word “Midianites” means “strife, judgment and habits.”<br /><br /> Every time the Israelites sowed seed to grow food, the&nbsp;Midianites swooped down in droves to take their harvest. Each time the Israelites started to see a breakthrough, it would be stolen. They were in fear, which is where we first learn about Gideon.<br /><br /> Gideon was threshing his harvest in a winepress to hide it from the Midianites. A family winepress would have been a small rock structure to press grapes. It would have been a very inconvenient place to thresh wheat. Gideon was afraid, like everyone else. Have you ever been there? We all have. But the good news is God meets us where we are and shows us His power.<br /><br /><strong>THE CALLING</strong></p>
