Annie Downs, Beth Moore and Believing in God to get you to your Gilgal.
I am reading Speak Love by Annie Downs. And she talks about reading something by Beth Moore called Believing in God to get you to your Gilgal. Can you explain what this means and how I might find mine. I know Gilgal is a place in the Bible.
Here is what ChatGPT said:
You’re right—Gilgal is a real, specific place in the Bible, but Beth Moore (and Annie Downs when she references her) uses it as a spiritual metaphor with deep roots in Scripture. I’ll explain it in three layers: biblical, Beth Moore’s meaning, and how you might recognize your own “Gilgal.”
1. Gilgal in the Bible (The Foundation)
Gilgal first appears prominently in Joshua 4–5, right after the Israelites cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.
At Gilgal, several critical things happen:
🔹 1. Memorial Stones Are Set Up (Joshua 4:19–24)
Twelve stones are taken from the Jordan and placed at Gilgal as a physical reminder:
“So that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful.”
Gilgal becomes a place of remembering what God has done.
🔹 2. Circumcision & Renewal (Joshua 5:2–9)
This is uncomfortable but important. God says:
“Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.”
👉 The name Gilgal is related to the Hebrew word meaning “to roll away.”
This is a place where:
Old identity is cut away
Shame from slavery is removed
God reclaims His people as His own
🔹 3. First Taste of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10–12)
They celebrate Passover.
They eat food from the land.
The manna stops.
This marks a transition:
From wilderness dependence
To living daily in God’s promise
📍 Gilgal = the threshold between promise and fulfillment
2. What Beth Moore Means by “Getting to Your Gilgal”
Beth Moore uses Gilgal to describe:
The place where God brings you to a decisive moment of belief, remembrance, and identity renewal—before moving you forward.
It is not the final destination.
It is a starting place for victory.
In her teaching, Gilgal is:
Where God asks you to believe Him fully, not just intellectually
Where you let Him roll away old labels, lies, or bondage
Where you stop circling the wilderness and step into trust
It often comes after:
A long season of waiting
Repeated disappointments
Learning dependence the hard way
And before:
New assignments
New freedom
New fruitfulness
3. How You Might Recognize Your Gilgal
Your Gilgal is not a location—it’s a moment or season marked by three things:
✨ 1. Remembering
Ask yourself:
What has God already brought me through?
Where have I survived when I shouldn’t have?
What evidence do I have that He has been faithful?
Your journal page you shared earlier?
That’s very Gilgal-shaped—anchoring truth when circumstances still feel uncertain.
✂️ 2. Rolling Away (This Is the Hard Part)
Gilgal involved pain and vulnerability.
Ask:
What belief about myself or God no longer fits where He’s leading me?
What “Egypt” mindset am I still carrying?
I’ll always be overlooked
Nothing ever changes
God helps others more than me
Gilgal is where God says:
“That doesn’t belong to you anymore.”
🌱 3. Crossing from “Not Yet” to “I Trust You Anyway”
You already wrote:
“Not yet doesn’t mean not ever.”
That sentence alone sounds like someone standing at Gilgal.
You might be at Gilgal if:
You don’t see the outcome yet
But you’re choosing to believe God’s character anyway
You’re learning to rest without answers
A Gentle Exercise to Help You Find Your Gilgal
You don’t have to force this. Try this prayerful reflection:
Write three headings in your journal:
1. Stones I Can Set Up
Where has God already shown Himself faithful?
2. Things God Might Be Rolling Away
What shame, fear, or false belief no longer belongs in this next season?
3. Promises I’m Standing On
Even if I don’t see fulfillment yet, what am I choosing to believe about God?
Your Gilgal often reveals itself not as a dramatic moment—but as a quiet, resolved “yes” in your spirit.
One Last Thought (Especially for You 💛)
Based on your devotion notes, your reading, and the themes you’re drawn to, I’d gently say:
You may already be at Gilgal—learning to trust God’s closeness before you see His provision.
Gilgal is less about arrival and more about alignment.
You’re asking the right questions. That’s often how Gilgal begins.
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