Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” — Judges 6:11b-12
The story of Gideon in the book of Judges (Chapters 6-8) is an extraordinary tale of transformation and victory. It’s got everything a great story entails — intimidating adversaries, an unlikely hero with a broken identity, overwhelming circumstances with incredible odds, and an epic rise to glory. Get me a bucket of popcorn. I’m ready to watch the movie!
Israel’s story in the book of Judges is a circular tragedy of national rebellion against God resulting in oppression at the hands of enemies, an eventual cry for help to the Lord, and His divine response to raise up a man or woman as deliverer. In this case, God’s man is Gideon. And he’s the perfect warrior for the Lord. You know, the kind who’s hiding scared in a winepress, looking over his shoulder and questioning the voice of God.
Yeah, Gideon’s got some issues, and that’s exactly why we love him so much.
I know what you’re thinking. What does all this have to do with my prayer life? I suggest it has everything to do with how you relate to God. Like Gideon, we also struggle with our identity, face huge obstacles, and question God’s voice and direction for our lives. Yet, hidden within the winepress with Gideon is a wonderful truth for us to encounter. And here it is … God views you very differently from how you view yourself, and He speaks to you on the basis of how He sees you.
Here’s the context in Judges 6:6-16. God sends an angel to meet with Gideon in the midst of his crisis of security and provision. But God chooses to speak to him on the basis of who he is becoming, not the frightened man he sees cowering before him. In other words, God looks beyond Gideon’s current condition to see his potential, because the God of Gideon’s destiny knows there’s a mighty warrior locked inside this chronic worrier. The application point is this. When God speaks to us, we discover who we really are and receive an invitation to come out of hiding so we can live out our calling. That’s if we are willing to listen to His voice and trust Him!
The truth is that the Father wants to relate to you on the basis of your identity in Christ, not based on your current circumstances or past wounds. He’s calling you out of your hurts and hiding onto the battlefield of life, where you gain victory through the authority of Christ. The Father is searching the earth looking for sons and daughters who will put their trust in Him no matter the circumstance. This is where He gets the greatest glory as we trust Him with radical odds and unsolvable circumstances. Gideon’s little army of 300 skilled water-scoopers (apparently an essential skill when chasing down your enemy) routed vast enemy armies totaling over 120,000. That’s right, those are 400 to 1 odds. There’s no mistaking who gets the glory in this story!
The odds may be stacked against you right now, but God sees your predicament as an opportunity to show you who you really are. He wants to say to you, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” So draw near to the voice of your God this week, and discover the confidence to live out your calling in Christ. The world is waiting for a new hero to rise.
Our God Hears,
AJ