April 27

Gideon

Sometimes God puts us in what appears to be impossible situations.  Like Gideon, we don't always understand why "if the Lord is with us, why is all this happening" (6:13).  Like, why would God reduce Gideon's army to only 300 men?  One of the reasons Gideon's story is one of my favorites is because he is so easy for me to relate to.  Gideon saw himself as "the least in his family" (6:15), but failed to see that whatever assignment God laid out before him, God Himself was sending him and promised to be with him (6:14,16).  Who, beside me, can recall a time when we were faced with impossibilities and forgot we are not standing alone?  I marvel at the conversations God and Gideon have.  I believe as we read each encounter, God wants us to remember that we too can engage in conversations with Him and draw upon His strength. I'm learning that God will put me in circumstances only to teach me that I can't boast about my own strength saving me (7:2) God wants me to understand and testify to the fact that there are certain things only He can do, like win battles with just 300 men.  Just as the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, (6:33), His Spirit has come upon us.  His Spirit equips us to carry out our assignments and fight battles when all the odds seem against us.  I believe the stories we read in the Bible are God's way of relating to us. Much like a young girl who pretends to be a fairy tale princess, or a young boy wants to be a superhero, we can walk like Gideon. We can face each day knowing that God's Spirit is resting upon us, even though we might be questioning our own abilities, we are called to accept our assignments with our confidence and trust in God.  He is always with us causing events to happen according to His purpose and plan (7:22).  I pray we walk in our assignments today standing on the promise that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13).



Randi