(Some content
adapted from Gideon by Priscilla
Shirer)
Then the angel of the LORD came and sat
under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his
son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the
Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, "The
LORD is with you, O valiant warrior." Judges 6:11-12
This week we are focusing on Gideon. Yesterday we learned a little bit of history
and where Gideon comes into the picture.
Gideon was hiding out from his enemies, but he wasn’t alone like he
thought he was.
Gideon was in
the bottom of a wine press threshing the wheat in hiding, or so he
thought. He was hidden from his enemies
but a very special visitor found him.
There appeared with him…the angel of the Lord. The angel did not come with a bright light flashing
in the sky. In fact, verse 11 says the angel of the Lord came and sat under a tree while Gideon
worked. He saw Gideon before Gideon saw
him. He most likely looked like an
ordinary man. No floating apparition, no
sparkling, shimmering wings. He was just
ordinary, appealing to Gideon in an ordinary way.
Gideon was
quietly working, never expecting to have company. He was in the middle of an everyday, mundane
task and yet, right there, in the midst of the monotony of his task, he was met
by the angel of the Lord. This is often
the way God meets us. We don’t catch it
sometimes and may entirely miss a “God meeting” because we are not looking for
God in an ordinary way, in the midst of our ordinary day. We think we are going to have some grandiose
experience. If we are always looking for
an extraordinary and magnificent event, we may miss out on many intimate
moments with God. The routine, mundane,
commonplace events in our lives are where God waits for us to find Him. Ordinary is often the disguise of the divine.
“O Valiant Warrior”
Here is the really good part. Here is Gideon hiding from the enemies,
scared to death like the rest of his people and the angel of the Lord calls out
to Gideon, O
Valiant Warrior. Gideon’s
current position made the angel’s statement seem ironic and unbelievable. Gideon was not actually a coward. He was acting like a scared farmer but that
is not who he was. God had a different
perspective of him. His opinion of
Gideon was not based on Gideon’s actions and reality. Gideon may have been scared and running, but
God saw beyond that. He saw something
that Gideon didn’t even realize was in him.
God’s view of us is so far beyond what we can grasp
sometimes. It is like the saying goes “If you could see you like I see you…”. If we could see our value and worth through
God’s eyes we would discover that He has made us “valiant warriors”. Paul tells us, Put on the full armor of God, so that you
will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11) We have been
made to be conquerors not cowards! God
knows the power we have available and calls on us to recognize ourselves for
who we are. Today may be the day you
encounter the angel of the Lord and hear the call to battle in the strength of
the Lord. Like Gideon, it may sound
preposterous, but Jesus said, "The things that are impossible with people are
possible with God." Luke 18:27
Scripture to Claim:
Therefore, take up
the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and
having done everything, to stand firm. Ephesians 6:13
