Read Judges 6:1-16Last weekend, when the high school students participated in the mission trip training retreat, several of them were sent out into the community to share their faith. I wasn't there for most of the retreat, but I arrived at the church for the tail end of the weekend, and I saw those students return from their evangelism experience at Starbucks. What I saw was a lot of discouragement in their faces. In their minds, because no one had responded positively to the gospel, they had been failures. They felt inadequate, defeated, and insignificant. They felt that if only they had done a better job of witnessing, they would have seen a response.
Can you empathize with these students? Have you ever felt inadequate or defeated and bought into the lie that God couldn't possibly use you? I know I have! I want to look at a character in the Bible who doubted that God could use him but saw God work though him in amazing ways. In Judges 6, we see that there is a dire situation in Israel. Actually, it's a lot like the movie "A Bug's Life." In that movie, the grasshoppers come and take everything the ants have worked so hard to collect. The ants are taken advantage of year after year and are powerless to do anything to stop their enemies. Their hero ends up being Flik, an ant everyone saw as an insignificant loser. Though Flick is the underdog, he ends up saving the entire colony of ants.
The Israelites are facing a situation much like the ants' dilemma in the movie. The Midianites would come and steal all of the Israelites' produce and sustenance, destroying their land and leaving nothing for them. Judges 6:6 says, "So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord." God reminds them in verses 8-10 that He has delivered the Israelites from oppression before, and He will do it again. He is faithful even when we're not (we see that the Israelites had been disobedient in verse 10).
Now enters our unlikely hero...Gideon. The angel of the Lord appears to him and simply says, "The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior" (12). But in actuality, Gideon feels just about as valiant as Flik in the movie! He first accuses God of abandoning him and his people (not a wise move, but at least he's honest), and then finds out that he has been the one selected by God to bring about the Israelites' deliverance.
I love that we are able to read Gideon's response to this divine calling. Gideon says, "O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house." I can definitely relate to that response...can you? Maybe you doubt the fact that God can use you, because you think He should give the task to someone more important than you. You may think you're nothing special...you don't come from a rich family, make good grades, or excel at athletics. In fact, you could think of a whole list of people off the top of your head who would be more qualified for the task than you...someone prettier, more popular, more eloquent, more influential... Gideon felt the same way. He did not come from the most respected or influential family in town. In fact, his family was the least in his entire region. Not only that, but he was the youngest and most insignificant member of his family! So why did God choose him? How the heck would God bring about His deliverance through an insignificant young person?
The answer lies in verse 16, when the Lord responds, "Surely I will be with you." The reason Gideon is able to deliver the Israelites, is because the Lord is the one doing the work through him! Gideon doesn't have any power or influence on his own, and he knows that. By relying on his own abilities, he would go nowhere. However, the almighty God of the universe chose to use Gideon to bring about His plan. Gideon would only succeed because God was working through Him.
The fact that God is actually doing His work though us takes an enormous load of pressure off of us. We don't have to be great, because God is great. We only have to be obedient, willing, and available, offering ourselves up as His vessels to be used for His glory. I remember the first time I was asked to lead a Bible Study when I was a sophomore in college. I was so scared and felt so inadequate. I never desired to be in a leadership role in the church or in any position of ministry. Why? Because I felt to unworthy and inadequate. I thought that surely God would choose someone more spiritual and godly than me. However, once I began to lead that Bible Study, I realized something that I have since then been constantly aware of...God is the one working through me. Of course I am weak and inadequate, but God is not! By relying on Him to work though me, I can see results. These results are a product of God's work, not my own. Every time I meet with a student, write a blog post, or teach a Bible Study, I pray first. I ask God to speak through me, because I know that I can't come up with something on my own.
I hope you will be encouraged by the example of Gideon. If you go on to read the full story of Gideon in Judges (I would recommend it), you will see that God worked through him in amazing ways. This insecure young man who was so aware of his own weaknesses and insignificance was transformed into a mighty man of God. Are you struggling with the truth that God wants to use you for His glory? Do you feel discouraged by your own inabilities and weaknesses? Remember that while you are weak, He is strong, powerful, and mighty to save. Trust in Him to do the work through you!
