The LORD is with Thee, Thou Mighty Man of…

“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.”  Judges 6:13

Did you ever feel that the Lord was far away, ignoring your stressful situation or seemingly unconcerned about your problem?  This is how Gideon felt.  Israel had once again become disobedient resulting in the LORD allowing their enemy Midian to prevail against them, and Israel was “under their thumb” for seven years.  However, there was a young man named Gideon whom God considered a “might man of valor” (Judges 6:12).  God sent His Angel to Gideon to inform him that he had been selected to bring Israel out from under the dominion of Midian.  Many believe that this Angel was actually an Old Testament appearance of Christ.  The term “valor” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “courageous, fearless, and brave, especially in battle”.  Gideon would certainly be known as less than fearless.  He was threshing wheat in a winepress, not the normal place to thresh wheat, because he feared the Midianites.

Gideon was very skeptical about being the one chosen to rescue Israel.  He felt like the LORD had forsaken Israel.  He even questioned why God had allowed the captivity of His own chosen people.  He remembered hearing about all the miracles that God did in bringing the Hebrew people out of bondage in Egypt and couldn’t understand why God had not intervened again for Israel’s sake.  Gideon was brave in one respect: by his questioning the Angel, he was actually questioning God’s motive.  That would certainly require a “lot of guts”.  However, the Angel did not become angry at him.  I think He understood Gideon’s skepticism.

As we all do, Gideon began to make excuses for why he thought he was not the man for the job.  He began to list the reasons:  he came from a poor family, was a farmer, and he was the least in his father’s house, that is, he was likely the youngest with absolutely zero experience in military strategy and the art of war.  We might say that he was, like my husband who was the youngest of six, the one who got the cold showers and the leftover food.  Gideon might have thought, “This is just not going to work.  There is no way that little ol’ me can do this.”  However, God knew what Gideon was capable of with God’s help.  Gideon had a heart for the Jewish people.  Even though he was reared in an idolatrous home, somehow he had knowledge of the God of Israel.  It was and is God’s prerogative to choose whom He will to fulfill His purpose for mankind.  With God’s help, Gideon and his soldiers subdued Midian, and Israel dwelt in peace for 40 years (Judges 8:28).

God has His reasons for sometimes delaying His answer to our prayers, and in those times, we must remember that He is working for us behind the scenes preparing a solution that is much better than anything we could have devised on our own.  Also, at times, He is waiting on us to get to the place where we can readily accept His answer.  God doesn’t get angry at us for asking Him questions.  He wants us to be honest with Him.  Besides, He already knows how we feel.  He doesn’t expect us to always understand His ways, but He does require us to trust Him.