Entering the Battleground with God’s Strength

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?  Where are his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put 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?”

‘But Lord,” Gideon asked, “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…” (Judges 6:12-16)

One side note before I begin this devotional.  My husband let me know that the subscription email for the devotional has not been working until today, so I am very sorry if you have not been receiving the devotional in your email box.  Please place your email in the subscription box one more time and I will add you to the email list.  I pray God continues to guide you with the wisdom in His Word.

Alright, back to the Scripture passage for today!  I really encourage you to read all of Judges 6 and 7 to see where Gideon was coming from when he began his conversation with the angel, where the Lord led him, and how God gave Gideon the ultimate victory.  For the sake of keeping your attention, I will stick to this small portion of Scripture.

Like a dream, an angel shows up before Gideon and says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior (vs. 12).”

Gideon probably looked around for somebody else, thinking it couldn’t possibly be him the angel was talking to.  Gideon was thinking through all the things he and his people had recently gone through.  Life had not been easy.  He did not feel mighty.  For seven years, Gideon and the Israelites had faced oppression in the hands of the Midianites.  I don’t think anyone would feel very mighty after this kind of season in their life.

Maybe you are in a season like that or maybe you are walking out.  Maybe you remember a season that was like that.  The truth is we have all faced seasons that felt like the rug was swept out from underneath us.  But God still comes in and says, “we are mighty.”  But why?  The answer comes a little later in the passage.

In fact, Gideon still goes on to say “we have not experienced wonders like our ancestors and we have felt abandoned by God (vs. 13).”

Is Gideon starting to sound familiar to you?  He does to me.  He sounds like myself.  There are times when I get to some pretty difficult days and I want God to show up in awesome ways.  But God has His own plan.  He was allowing the Israelites to dwell on the wonders of their ancestors and rely on His faithfulness for a better tomorrow.  He had not abandoned them.  He was pruning them for a season.  The Lord was preparing them for the road ahead, the battle they would face.

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?” (vs. 14)

God was calling Gideon and his men forward into battle.  He let Gideon know in 6 words that he had all the tools he needed for battle.  “Go in the strength you have…”  What kind of strength was it that could win a battle against the enemy that had oppressed this nation for seven years?  It was the strength of the Lord inside Gideon.  The angel already told Gideon the Lord was with him and because of this he was a mighty warrior.  Now God was saying, GO with the strength you have.

Are there times that you don’t want to take the extra step in God because the burdens you are carrying have weighed you down?  It’s time to throw them off.

Hebrews 12:1 says, “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

It’s time to run forward with everything you’ve got.  Time to let go of all the things that don’t matter and let God know you mean what you say when you say you want to live for Him.  He wants everything from us.  And HE deserves it all because HE gave it all for us through His Son on the cross!  HE held nothing back when it came to you, so why would you hold anything back when comes to Him?

Gideon’s reply to God is familiar territory for a lot of us, as he replies with fear and letting God know what he is not.

vs. 15  Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel?  My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least of my family.”

Has this been your response to God lately?  “I’m not enough God.”  “Isn’t there someone better than me God?”  “Why would you want to use my broken pieces?”  “Surely you can do better than this!”

vs. 16  The Lord answered, “I will be with you…”

That is all you need to know.  God will be with you.  He has no intentions of letting you face anything alone.  He wants to walk with you, hold your hand, guide you, and carry you if necessary.

Remember the lesson from yesterday Jesus said,

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

Perfect is TELAS in Greek which means “complete”.

“Be COMPLETE, therefore, as your heavenly Father is complete.”

Bring everything that you are not to God and let Him be who He is through you today and every day!

Dear Father God, Help me go forth with strength in you.  May I find myself to be a warrior in You!  Not by my might, but by Your might may all things be done!

Entering the Battleground with Your Stength,