“Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!’” (Judges 6:11-12 NLT)
Gideon is one of my favorite Biblical characters because when I look at him it’s like I’m looking in the mirror. The angel of the Lord has addressed him as a “Mighty hero,” but he’s hiding in fear just trying to eke out an existence. Listen to how he describes himself in verse 15: “’But Lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’”
Have you ever felt like that? I have and that’s how I know it’s seldom healthy for us to begin a sentence with “But Lord.” Just saying! 😊 But the key that changed Gideon and the future of the children of Israel was God’s next words: “The Lord said to him, ‘I will be with you.’” God’s presence can change a weakling into a mighty warrior for God, but there are two critical components that we must understand.
First, we have to recognize we’re not alone. Yes, of course, we may have family and friends who are standing with us, but they can’t feel what we feel, they can’t know what we know, in terms of how we feel about ourselves. How weak and helpless we feel in the face of this massive “army” that is threatening an imminent attack.
God’s presence alone can bring the peace, courage, and determination to follow, not only God’s directives, but His heart. That’s the difference between walking WITH God, and having God’s presence so surround us that we sense His protective shield. There’s a sense in which we become invincible when we’re so focused, not on our weakness, but God’s strength. And here’s the key: We’re not simply doing things FOR God; we’re doing them WITH God.
He hasn’t given us an assignment and sent us off to do it in our own strength, He’s aiding us, carrying us, if you will, enabling us to be more than we ever dreamed we could be, accomplishing more for God than we ever imagined, not because we’re so special, but because we’ve finally learned to put our life into His capable hands and allow Him to do with us as He pleases.
The problem with which we most wrestle, it seems, is determining what God wants us to do. Sometimes He makes it easy, like He did with Gideon. The Lord came to Him and outlined exactly what He wanted him to do. But much, if not most, of the time we need to be alert and sensitive to what God is doing and how He’s inviting us to join Him.
To me it’s been very clear that the Lord is using my hands to type these articles, but He caught my attention a few days ago when I was having one of my bi-weekly infusions. I didn’t realize it until part way into the conversation with the young lady who was administering my medication, that God was at work in her life. She had shared with me early on that she grew up Catholic, but I sensed she was wanting more – not more religion, but more of God, more life, more purpose, more energy in her view of God.
As I shared with her, I wasn’t grasping for words, like I often have to, the words were flowing and I knew it was God because she wasn’t just listening, she was leaning in, attentive, soaking up the words the Lord was sharing with her. I wasn’t the source, simply the instrument.
This is too good to stop here. Let’s pick it up in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 