Who Me?

We read in the book of Judges of a man called Gideon.

In Judges 6:11 it says, "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" (NIV).

You can imagine Gideon's surprise when the angel says, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." (verse 12). Look, he might have said, "I'm hiding in a wine press beating wheat so the enemy doesn't steal it! This is after all the Promised Land, but we are overtaken and starving and you are calling me a mighty warrior? Where is God?"

God sees in us what we can never imagine because we are so fixed on our circumstances. Beloved, sadly, we have limited God in what He can accomplish in our lives because we are ensnared by unanswered questions. We have defined our weakness as being a liability rather than a weapon in God's hand to bring about a great deliverance. We don't fight from a place of strength but from weakness. In our weakness, the power of God is known! Most of us have all but lost hope there could be any lasting change in the world around us even if God was to visit us to welcome us into the battle.

If you read through the passage, God never answers Gideon's questions.

Where is the God that we heard about in the past who delivered us from the Egyptians? (verse 13) God encourages Gideon to go in the strength he possesses. Gideon protests. God, my family is not significant besides we are poor so what difference could I make to save a nation? (verse 15). Once again, God gives him the comfort of being with him and assures Gideon of a great victory (verse 16).

How many questions and concerns do we tell God when He asks us to do something that is beyond our capabilities? Can we push past what we see in the natural and shake off our fears and doubts to see with supernatural vision what God sees?

Sadly, so many believers will demand answers before obeying the Lord and will miss out a special blessing God has in store for them. Gideon's questions are not answered but he does obey the Lord and wins a huge victory.

God is not afraid of us asking questions but only ask that we believe Him. Believe that He is enough even if we go trembling into battle with a thousand questions. Do you think that after winning the victory that Gideon still had questions? No, I believe, as a result of the outcome, those questions were all answered simply by seeing what God accomplished in his weakness.