When you don't feel up to the task.
The story of Gideon in Judges 6 is familiar to most of us. Gideon is called to save his people from the Midianites who have been robbing and oppressing them. The Lord appears and strikes up a conversation saying,
“The Lord is with you, MIGHTY WARRIOR.”
Gideon immediately begins to argue. First, he takes issue with the beginning of the sentence, basically saying “if God is with us then why all the suffering?” Then he tries to correct the title THE LORD himself bestowed by explaining (to a God who already knows) that he is, in fact, NOT a mighty warrior but the weakest member of the weakest family in the weakest tribe! The nerve of this guy!
But don’t we all do that? We negate compliments, offer excuses and generally underestimate ourselves on a regular basis. And THIS is why the Lord’s response hit me like a ton of bricks this morning. He didn’t puff Gideon up. He didn’t say “to the contrary, you are my amazing creation!” Instead he says, "Go in the strength you have.” In other words, GO IN YOUR WEAKNESS! And here’s the part that almost knocked me over. He says,
“I will be with you.”
I’ve always read that to mean God will have your back. Right? Because according to 2 Corinthians 12:9 "My grace is sucient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” But today, I read it differently: His name, Immanuel (God. With. Us.) reverberated in my soul, in place of “I will be with you.” I read the Lord’s own declaration of WHO HE IS. In the midst of Gideon’s excuses and disclaimers, God says “Then proceed as you are because I AM-WITH YOU.” In other words, His answer to us not understanding ourselves to be “Mighty Warriors” is, “Ok, Go anyway, because IMMANUEL.” Because JESUS is who he says he is regardless of who you say you are!
I encourage you to take strength from that. YOU CAN DO THIS, because IMMANUEL. So put away your excuses, your self-deprecation and your fear. None of them matter because JESUS. Let’s take that proclamation and run with it!
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