A Lesson from Gideon

   Judges 6 is my current favorite chapter in the Bible. Mainly because God has been giving me revelation about it, which is how He usually talks to me. It's an interesting chapter. It starts out talking about how the Israelites are in bondage to the Midianites because they did evil in the sight of the Lord. Let me just say that James says to humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. (James 4:10) I don't want to know what happens when you exalt yourself in the sight of the Lord! So they were hiding "in the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains". Now the Midainites would come every year, encamp against them, and destroy their crops. Also the Amalekites and some people, who are not named, from the East. They were very poor at this point.

   But in the middle of all this, a guy named Gideon gathers his wheat together and startes to thresh it in his father's wine press so that he can hide it from the Midianites. All of the sudden the Angel of the Lord appears to him and says, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor." The irony of calling a guy who's hiding a mighty man of valor must have struck him pretty hard, because basically  what he said was, "Whatever! Don't you see what's going on here? God has forsaken us."

  Now, if I was God I would have gotten mad at him for talking to me like that. That's why He's God, and I'm not. Inspite of what Gideon said, God knew his heart and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"

  Gideon then wants a sign to make sure this is God speaking to him and not just some mirage brought on by heat stroke, so he asks Him to wait while he prepares a sacrifice. After he prepares it, he sets it on a rock and God makes fire come out of the rock and the fire consumes it. Gideon understands and believes it truly is the Angel of God. The Angel leaves and Gideon builds an altar and calls it "The-Lord-is-Peace".

  Question: Now what was the point of me telling that whole story?
 Answer: I want to share some of what God has put on my heart as of late.

  First of all, God brought Gideon out of a place of hiding and weakness. (Judges 6:11-12)
 Second, God looks beyond our present problems, and into our future potential. (Judges 6:11- 16)
  Third, the only limitation on God is us. But if you give God all that you have, He will make it into something that you could not have even imagined. He only needs your willingness; but if you're not willing, He will find someone who is.
   Fourth, God told Gideon to go in his might and he would save Israel. "Have I not sent you?" God has called us to battle, but we can't go to battle and just hide behind Him like a little kid. We are soldiers and we have to follow our general (God) to the very end. We have to exert just as much willingness to fight for our lives as He does. Because if you think about it, you're in a fight for our lives, and God can only protect us so much. If we lie on the ground and accept defeat, we will be defeated. But if we stand and fight, and follow God's orders, we will win the victory! 
   Which brings me to the fact that GOD IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL! He loves you exponentially. He is fighting for your life. So the question becomes:
 
   Are you?