“The Lord is with you mighty warrior”
A study in Gideon part one
Read: judges 6:11-24
Ever seen the 1990’s movie “The Little Giants?” It’s about a little rag tag team filled with all sorts of non-athletic kids that goes against the best and biggest peewee team in football.
One particular character from the movie sticks out at me as I look at the judge Gideon-the kid known as “Bubble Boy.”
Bubble Boy grows up in a very conservative home where his mother wouldn’t let him play outside and wrap them in bubble wrap before he was able to exit the house every day.
Before Bubble Boy leaves the house, he has to pack his bag full of allergy meds, epipens, inhalers and all sorts of other medicines for his ailments.
So of course to the mothers surprise, Bubble Boy wanted to play against the biggest and scariest team in one of the most full-contact sports known to man. Bubble Boy was the weakest link on the football team and no one from the stands expected much out of him.
But of course, he ends up being a critical player and one of the turning points of the game. The movie ends with the little rag-tag team winning in a nail-biting final last-second play.
When I was reading about Gideon and studying about him this week, the Lord reminded me of this movie and had me think about Gideon's character in the same way that I saw Bubble Boy.
Gideon was the smallest of his tribe, the most afraid and the least likely to be called out as “The Mighty Warrior”
God could’ve literally called anybody else to fulfill his mission to beat scary Midianite army of THOUSANDS! He could have chosen one of the descendants of
David’s mighty men that could take on Giants.
He could’ve called one of his amazing prophets that could call an ax to rise out of a body of water after it had sunken or pray for famine to sweep the land. God could’ve chosen someone that was a better leader, a better speaker, stronger, richer, had more influence or pretty much any other qualification.
But He chose the weakest link- the Bubble Boy and the 4th string player to fulfill his mission.
Why?
So that God could get all the glory.
So that Gideon could never doubt for one second that he has anything to do with the victory. So that Gideon could be an empty vessel for God’s power.
God isn’t looking for the most powerful person or the most qualified person to obey him. He’s looking for the most humble and the most teachable.So this week, you might not think that you are the right person at your job or at your school. You might be asking God why he chose you to make a difference.
He chose you because he will empower you and help you every step of the way- just me available to answer His call.
Read the story here:
”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.” Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.”
And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”Judges 6:12-24 NIV
