My April Saturday Red Light Moment
Written By Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro, Founder/President of Thread of Hope, Inc.
“During that night the Lord said to Gideon,
'Get up. Go down against the camp.
I am going to hand it over to you.'"
Judges 7: 9
God gave me this story last Monday morning. As I read it again, the verse above caught my attention. You know why? Because God always reveals the schemes of the enemy. In April, I had gone for a drive. I was worshiping God and praying. I will never forget that moment. As I approached the police station in that town, the light turned red. As I stopped, God spoke to me. He said, “You are going to receive a letter (gave me the name of the person) and this what the letter will say (He told me everything the letter would contain.) Do NOT fight back. Do NOT answer it. Do NOT acknowledge it. Ignore it. Let that person go ahead and have it. The battle is NOT for you to fight. The offense is NOT against you, it’s against ME. The evil is disgusting before my nostrils.”
I was in so much shock that I couldn’t even go when red light turned to green. Cars were beeping at me to go. I, immediately, called my friend Linda. I told her what God just said. “Linda, please tell me I heard wrong. It can’t be!” Linda said, “Teresa, since when have you been wrong in what God tells you?”
Three days later I walked into my office and I was told a registered letter arrived for me. I didn’t have to wonder who sent it or why. God had told me the evil plan that was plotted against me and what I was to do. I was prepared and I did exactly how God instructed me. God even made the provision in a miraculous way for me.
It was one year later God opened up Citro Cosmetics and Skin Care as well as Citro Collection Fine Jewelry. In addition, I got licensed and ordained as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I initiated none of these things. They were dropped onto my lap. You see, the plan was to end the call God had on my life, shut my mouth, and cut off my calling, except they failed to understand my life is not my own. It belongs to Almighty God. It is yielded to the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s no longer what I want but what God wants. Therefore, there are purposes, plans, and a destiny for me to fulfill as it is with you, too. Get this clearly. When you belong to Him, no hand can stand against you just as it was with Gideon.
Gideon is one of my favorite guys in the Bible. Just like you and I, Gideon had a purpose to His life. A calling. A plan. A mandate. A destiny. He was to lead the army of Israel and to win the battle. He was chosen for that specific position in life. God was not going to let him loose no matter what or how big the army was against him.
What’s so dramatic about this victory? I’ll discuss one aspect today. God told him to go into the enemy’s camp and hear what they had to say. Can you imagine? Can you believe God was telling him to go eavesdrop. Horrifying, shocking, horrible right? Not for God. He had a purpose that needed to be revealed.
This is what he heard. “Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend about his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came rolling into the camp of Midian. It hit a tent with great force. The tent turned over and fell down flat.” His friend replied, “That can only be the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. Gideon is from Israel. God has handed the Midianites over to him. He has given him the whole camp.”
Once he heard this. It no longer mattered to Gideon he had an army of 300 men. Nor that the opposition’s army was so huge in numbers they looked like locusts. Neither that their camels were too many to count. God had showed him behind the scenes he was called to win that war. Declaring victory no matter how they had positioned themselves or how great of an army the opposition had. God was not with the opposition. God was with the chosen. Gideon was that man. Gideon was the chosen one. Didn’t matter the other leader had the greater army, stood in the best place, and had more weapons. Gideon’s army had only the trumpets. Trumpets are blown to proclaim victory.
Get this in your spirit says the Lord God. “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'” (Isaiah 46:10).
In essence, Almighty God is saying, “I choose who, when, where, and how; And no man, no scheme, no power, no lie, no conniving, no tricks, no money, no nothing can or will stop my hand for doing that which I have planned, purposed, blessed, and decided on from the beginning of time. No power in heaven or earth will prevail against Me. That which I purposed and planned shall be fulfilled.” Understand?
It is the calling of every believer to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Period. It ends here just like my red light when I was driving. God told me what was about to happen, who, why, and what I needed to do. Then light turned green. I couldn’t stop there. I had to proceed. Understand? We don’t stop at green lights. We follow directions and get to our destinations, with clear mind and vision, to do what we need to do and say what we need to say.
People of God, keep your mouth shut, and let your knees speak. It’s our knees that will change outcomes. There’s a time to speak and a time to keep quiet. Gideon said, “ Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” The battle wasn’t even fought yet. How could he make such a statement? God had told Him that’s how. Didn’t matter, God said it. That’s all that mattered. With 300 men the battle was won. Was it the men? No it was God. That’s the entire point. When God speaks the demons of hell tremble.
The Battle is never ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are to believe God and what He says. “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Abraham also did that which God told him.
I believe God. The battle is the Lord’s. You and I can be a part of the 300, or the thousands of the fearful ones. “Perfect love casts out all fear.” This is a time at a red light. We wait to hear the sound of the trumpet. In the meantime, we get on our knees and repent. We ask for clearness of mind, and what are we to do and say? We stand strong in faith and we remember God is faithful and in total control. That which He proposed shall come to pass, and nobody can stop it.
Will the real church please stand up? I’m standing. Join me please. You're not standing for me. You're standing for God. I’m one of the 300 hundred. Are you?
Praise & Worship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTXBLspw_Z0