For seven long years, Israel’s enemy had been making life miserable for them. Having exhausted their own strength, Israel cried out to God for help. God sent a prophet to remind them how he had delivered them in the past, how they had gotten themselves into this mess through their own disobedience and irreverence. End of story.
Seriously? God was leaving His people to fend for themselves? God reminded his people of one thing. “I am the Lord your God.” Then He abandoned them to faith.
Man of Fearless Courage
God left them to their faith while He prepared a deliverer. No wonder He didn’t tell them who their deliverer would be! Gideon himself knew who he was – the poorest and the least. But God didn’t see him that way.
Judges 6 tells us that God sent the Angel of the Lord to Gideon. Bible scholars believe this “Angel” to be Jesus. Jesus came and sat down under a terebinth tree, a common tree in Israel, and watched Gideon work. Gideon was threshing wheat in secret so the Midianites wouldn’t steal it. Threshing wheat was a process of separation, saving the grain while the chaff fell away.
“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of fearless courage.” Judges 6:12 Amplified Classic
Jesus spoke these words over Gideon. From the moment He spoke those words, Gideon entered a process of preparation and separation. The Lord allowed Gideon to voice his doubts and questions, his whys and his hows. Then He simply replied, “I will be with you…” vs 16.
Our Own Whys…
There have been times in my life when I couldn’t see the hand of God. My sentences began with, “Why, God, if you are with me?” My vision was filled with my smallness and a sense of abandonment. Quiet whispers from Jesus remind me separation is preparation. His blueprint of hope reminds me His heart is always restoration.
Deliverance didn’t happen overnight for Gideon and his nation. But deliverance did come. How did the smallest and the least become God’s weapon?
“But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with Himself and took possession of him.” Judges 6:34 Amplified Version
This Scripture tells us the Spirit of the Lord literally clothed Gideon with Himself. Even then Gideon needed reassurance. God never scolded him for questioning. He simply reassured him again and again. Gideon became the man God had seen from the beginning.
What is He speaking over you today? Listen for His whispers as you read his word. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill your vision with His blueprint of hope. Begin today to see yourself as God sees you. Has He abandoned you to faith? Know He has already set in motion your deliverance. Look for him under a common tree. Trust in His love and call out to Him today.
