S160P2 – A man by any other name: Gideon
Jgs. 6:11-12, 14-15
Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
So much of what we experience is a matter of distinguishing truth from apparent truth. The way things look and feel and sound is not always the way they are. The limits of mankind’s vision falling short of the limitless vision of God accounts for the discrepancy. Gideon’s case is a prime example of things being very different than they appear. He was a young man, possibly a boy by modern day standards, and he was scared. He worked in a hole in the ground hiding from his people’s enemies. Among his own people, his clan had the least power. Yet, the Angel of the Lord addressed him as a man of valor. Our eyes see a terrified child hiding for his life. God’s eyes saw a mighty warrior.
Gideon was told to go in his might and conquer the enemy, and his response is classic. In his own eyes, Gideon had no might to speak of. He had no power, perhaps no courage. He likely thought he knew himself as well as anyone could know him, so what he saw in himself must be right. He knew how small his world looked, and that was where he saw his future. God, on the other hand, could see well beyond that. Standing outside time, the Lord knows who we really are. We do not see it yet, but He sees it all now. God had an incredible victory lined up for Gideon to take. The question was whether Gideon would believe the words he had heard and see the great victor that God ordained him to be.
I might think that I am the person who knows me best, the one who knows the most about me, but I would be wrong. My view of myself is not really any less limited than anyone else’s view of me. We are confined by our shallow vision, and that is why it is so important for us to listen to what God tells us we are. Had Gideon continued to see himself as a scared young man, he would have forfeited the great legacy God had waiting for him in delivering his people. God knows who you really are, and He will give you the opportunity to recognize that and become it if you just believe him. Father, we ask that You show us clearly who You say we are, and give us the faith and confidence to become that.