“The Lord Is With You, Mighty Warrior”

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

“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.”

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?”

“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.”

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

Judges 6:11-16

Gideon was an ordinary person. His story, recorded in Judges should inspire us. He was a farmer, and a timid one at that.

God promised He would be with Gideon, and that he would accomplish what God had asked him to do.

Many others played significant parts in the story. He was to save the Israelites from a strong enemy force. God provided Gideon with 300 men, valiant heroes all, to win the battle.

Today, God is still calling ordinary people to do His work and assuring us that He will be with us as we do. Because we are ordinary people being used by God, it’s obvious that the power comes from God and not from us.

God uses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plan.

Our Daily Bread – July 8, 2015