Then the Angel of the LORD appeared to him and said: “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the LORD brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?

He said to Him, “Please, LORD, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”

“But I will be with you,” the LORD said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”  Judges 6:12-16 HCSB

We’ve been speaking about Gideon for the past couple of days. Here Gideon is hiding in the wine vat thrashing his wheat in hopes that the Midianites won’t find him and steal his food. Because of the Israelite’s sin, God has handed them over to the Midianites and the Midianites are wreaking havoc on them. All of a sudden an angel appears to him and says, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

Now, someone hiding in terror is probably not feeling like a mighty warrior, just sayin’. He is also not going to be so confident that the LORD is with him, right? Gideon expresses this when he asks where the LORD is in all this suffering that the Israelites are going through? Then the LORD tells Gideon to go in the strength he has and save the Israelites from the Midianites.

Poor Gideon must be shaking his head at this point. He feels weak and powerless against the Midianites. I am sure that he is thinking that if he had that kind of power things would never have gotten to this point and he certainly wouldn’t be hiding in the wine vat trying to save his wheat from these bullies. But God promises that He will be with him.

When the chips are down and we are feeling lonely, and weak and afraid, we must remember that God is with us. But for Gideon who had been oppressed by the Midianites along with all of Israel for so long, this is not so easy.

But in verse 34 it says that the Spirit of the LORD took control of Gideon. Gideon blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him. Soon men throughout the land joined him and he had an army of 32,000 men. There was a problem, though, God said that was too many. God whittled his army of 32,000 down to 300 men. In chapter 8, verses 10-11 we are told that after 120,000 swordsmen were killed that this left the Qedemite army which was about 15,000 men. Those odds aren’t so good, right? But we must remember from the beginning God said that He would be with Gideon and his men. We are told in Romans 8:31 that if God is for us, who can be against us? We must remember this when God calls us to do what seems to be impossible. We must remember that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26), even an army of 300 destroying an army of 135,000.

So no matter how beaten down or weak you may feel know that God is with you. Trust in Him. If we simply trust in Him and obey His commands, He will bring us victory. And remember that no matter how weak or defeated you may feel that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

Know that you can go from the youngest in the weakest group to a mighty warrior with God’s help.

Have a great day!