God Sees Our Potential

-June 9, 2022-

Good morning, happy Thursday,

“And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’”

(Judges 6:12).

Gideon and all Israel were demoralized, depressed, and defeated by the Midianites. Because Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord delivered them into the hands of these ruthless people of Midian, who oppressed them for seven long years. The Amalekites joined them and they took Israel’s donkeys, oxen, and other livestock; they also destroyed their crops. It was so bad that Gideon had to thresh his wheat in winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites.

So it must have shocked Gideon when the Angel of the Lord came to him and made two bold statements: “The Lord is with you,” and “you mighty man of valor.” Our emotions in life often fluctuate, and with it our confidence. One day we are world beaters, the next the world is beating us up. If we take our eyes off the Lord, we are going to be defeated. We can all relate to Gideon. But praise be to God that He is with us, and He sees our potential for Him. He may not have felt like a mighty man of valor, but God saw him that way. When God calls us, He equips us, when He equips us, He empowers us, and when He empowers us, He uses us.

God promised Gideon the victory in Judges 6:16, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Surely I will be with you, and you will defeat the Midianites as one man.” Gideon led an army of 300 men, carrying pitchers, with trumpets in one hand and swords in the other. They shouted, “The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” The enemy started killing each other. Israel experienced a great victory. To say that Gideon’s army was small and the tactics the Lord gave them to employ unconventional, would be a huge understatement. All the glory went to the Lord.

The key to the victory was obedience to the Word of God. By faith, Jonathan the son of Saul found the same thing to be true, said to his armorbearer in 1 Samuel 14:6, “…’Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few.’” He and his armorbearer killed twenty of the Philistines by themselves in the space of about half an acre. God is the one who fights for us.

Let us thank God that He sees our potential and empowers us to do great things for Him. We just need faith in His mighty power. We can all be men and women of valor.

Have a blessed day trusting in the Lord and obeying Him. He gives us the victory. Stay safe and healthy.

In His awesome power,

Dean