I Am Gideon

Judges Chapter 6 11-16

11 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. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “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.”

14 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?”

15 “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.”

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive......”

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in the old days, when the Lord moved in mighty ways to save His people? I remember a while ago wondering if there were any people in the bible who I could relate to, so I asked the Lord, is there anyone in the bible that I can read about that I can relate to?

He told me these three words: "You are Gideon". When He said that to me, I was confused because that was not the person that I would have thought of in regards to my own situation in life. I felt a kinship to Job, because he was a man of integrity whose whole life was turned upside down because the devil challenged God regarding Job and his integrity.

The devil said that if the Lord would take away His hedge of protection, and if the Lord would allow him to wreck havoc and sorrow in his life, that Job would curse God to His face and then die. But, Job shows us that even in the hardest of circumstances, we can trust in the Lord no matter what.

I also had an affinity with joseph's life. He was unloved by his brothers and they schemed to kill him so that they might receive some favor and attention from their father, but the Lord intervened. They did not kill him but sold him into slavery in Egypt. He was used, abused, accused and looked down upon. He spent many years in jail for a crime he did not commit, and yet the Lord was always with him, so that he still had favor with men, and ultimately became the second most powerful ruler in Egypt to save and protect his family from the great famine.

When the Lord said this to me, I had to read about Gideon. What was most interesting about his story is that the Lord used him to solve a problem His people Israel was having in the land. The people needed a leader, anointed and set apart by God to deliver them from their enemies, and he was the last person that anyone would ever have chosen for the job.

Gideon was humble and fearful. He was the last person in his family and in his clan, so he had very little authority. But God doesn't care about what other people believe that they see in a person, because we cannot see what the Lord sees. The Lord saw his heart, and he knew that he was the best person for the job because:

1. he was humble and not full of pride
2. once he realized that God wanted to use him, he obeyed the Lord's commands
3. he was willing to do what the Lord wanted him to do and not his own desires
4. he did not listen to what others wanted in this situation but what God wanted for his life
5. he did not allow his fear to stop him from doing God's purpose for his life


He was not known as a fierce warrior, but the angel of the Lord called him to that service - 'mighty warrior'

What the Lord was trying to tell me was that He has a purpose for my life, and even though I might not see how it will be accomplished, He will do what it takes to make it a reality.

If the Lord is telling you that you are to do something that seems impossible, just thank the Lord for the chance to be used for His purposes, and then wait patiently to receive the power and the authority to do so. You will not be disappointed.