Judges 6:11-27

¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” ¹³ And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ¹⁴ And the Lord^[a] turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

¹⁵ And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” ¹⁷ And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. ¹⁸ Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

God calls another judge, Gideon to lead the Israelites out of slavery because of their cry to the Lord. But Gideon had some questions and objections. His first question was why he was called a mighty man of valor because Israel’s state was under the Midianite rule. If God is really with them and that He is called – why now? Hasn’t the presence of God left us? But when we look back, we would see that it was the Israelites who abandoned God and not the other way around. The reason God called Gideon at this time was that He was about to show the people who He is as God.

Keypoint #1: Hardships and troubles is not an evidence of God’s abandonment. Rather, we should ask what God is doing in the midst of hardship in our lives. 

Gideon is a very interesting man because God called somebody whom many would think is not qualified. Even Gideon himself thinks he is not qualified. I am not qualified and my clan is the weakest.  This reminds me of how Christianity works. God uses the weak things of this world to shame the wise. In fact, the starting point of Christianity is grace which means that only a person who understands that he is not qualified is qualified to become children of God. We have to understand that the one who calls us is greater than the one who receives the call (that’s us) It doesn’t matter what background you have if the Almighty God calls you, then we have been given a mission with full authority from the King of Kings!

Keypoint #2: It doesn’t matter what background you have, if God calls you, He has deputized and anointed you for the mission.

Talk it over:

1. Have you ever felt like God left you? When did this happen?
2. Looking back, what was God doing in your life when you feel alone?
3. Have you held back in things God has called you to do because of your limitations? If yes, what is God teaching you now?
4. Share what you believe God is calling you to do at this time and pray with your group that God anoints you for the mission.