“And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:12-16 KJV)
It is natural for us all to wonder what is ahead in our lives. But the story of Gideon warms our heart and gives an assurance of God’s attention to our circumstances.
Note how God’s messenger spoke to Gideon (v. 12). “The Lord is with you.” What greater assurance do we need than to know that God walks with us. And he called Gideon a “mighty man of valor.” Remember, Gideon was a farm boy. He had never fought any battles. He wasn’t qualified as a soldier, yet God saw him from a different perspective. He saw what was in the man. God had confidence in Gideon.
Sometimes we may feel like Gideon (v.13): “Lord, if you are with us then why is this happening to us? Where all those miracles we have heard about? It seems to me that the Lord has forsaken us.” Oh, such fickle flesh! How we forget so easily!
The Lord knew that Gideon couldn’t figure everything out. But, He also knew that Gideon had strength and power within himself that could be activated to set Israel free from the Midianites. God also knew that human strength and power would not be enough to gain victory, so He promised that He would certainly be with Gideon in the fight.
Gideon just needed to overcome his own weakness. What was this weakness? Gideon was weak in self-confidence and faith in God. While it is true that we cannot achieve victory alone, in and of ourselves, in every circumstance we must do what we can. We do have strength and power to move toward victory.
Our God is limitless in his power, but we should not sit idly demanding him to deliver us if we will not make some effort toward victory. Our action, small and weak as it may be, is evidence that we have faith in the limitless God who promises “Surely I will be with you.”
Dear Father, thank you for victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Empower us with faith and confidence to move toward victory. This I pray in the name of Jesus. AMEN
Be courageous today and move toward victory,