The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.” Judges 6:1-10 NIV
The first point to note in the story of Gideon is this: The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and they did not consistently listen to Him.
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.” Judges 6:11-13 NIV
Gideon asked the question so many of us ask as well, “Why has all this happened to us?” But the Lord had already answered that question, they were reaping what they’d sown. Had they stopped doing evil in God’s eyes and listened to Him, He would have spared them the oppression of the Midianites. Not everything that goes wrong in our lives is a result of something we’ve done wrong! Things go wrong in the lives of the faithful as well, just ask Job! But there are problems we bring on ourselves as a result of our propensity toward sin.
Despite their sin, they were still God’s chosen people! He loved them, and he heard their cry for help! If Christ is your Savior, you too are a child of God. He loves you and hears your cries for help, no matter how many times you’ve sinned against Him!
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.” Judges 6:14-16 NIV
God never needs us to have the strength of a mighty warrior, He has all the strength we need. He declared Gideon a mighty warrior because He planned to be with Gideon! “Go in the strength you have,” God told him. That’s the same thing He tells you and I. “Go in the strength you have.” Whatever strength you have is enough! What is it that God wants you to do today? You have enough strength to do it! Why? Because He is with you! Gideon saw his weakness, but God saw His own strength operating in Gideon’s life.
If life is a struggle because you have made sinful choices and have not consistently listened to God, find hope in the story of Gideon. Put into place the formula we see in Judges 6.
- Refuse to continue in sin.
- Listen to God and start living His way.
- Cry out to God for help.
- Stop focusing on the strength you lack, and go in the strength you have.
- Remember that God is with you.
- Realize that He will make you a mighty warrior and give you victory over the enemy as you do these things.
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. Judges 7:19-21 NIV
Jumping ahead in the story we see that God did make Gideon a mighty warrior! Do you believe that God can do that in your life too? Perhaps it’s time to gain that perspective and go in the strength you have!