Scripture: Judges 6:11-16 “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
”Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Devotional: Many people miss God's plan for life because they can't see themselves in a certain role. They don’t see themselves as an influential person spiritually. They don’t see themselves as a leader. Certainly, this was the case for Gideon.
But God spoke to Gideon about what he would be, rather than what he was. Beginning with affirmation, He encouraged Gideon, essentially saying: You can be more than you are right now. You are underestimating your potential. You don’t need to hide in this winepress. I have more for you.
God called Gideon to a great feat, and He promised him that He would be with him to accomplish it. It may have seemed impossible to Gideon at the time to be able to lead Israel to strike down the Midianites, but, as we shall see, with God all things are possible.
Reflect:
- What impossible feat might God be calling you to?