Grace and Gideon

^“Now the Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my lord,  if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”  So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:11-16)

God declares Gideon to be a mighty man of valor, but Gideon who is focused on his circumstances replies with unbelief regarding the Lord’s faithfulness. This is an amazing picture of man’s resistance to believe and take the Lord at His Word! Here Gideon stands face to face with the angel of the Lord who is telling him truly who he is based on the grace of God and Gideon answers with an accusation against the Lord. Could it be that it is impossible to see who we truly are in Christ when we are questioning and doubting His faithfulness? When we are failing to see the absolute certainty of our righteousness in Him? God’s response to Gideon is even more amazing in lieu of this accusation. The Lord continues to affirm His declaration to Gideon that he will most assuredly do all that God has intended because the Lord is with him! Wow! And God doesn’t stop there and neither does Gideon! Gideon throws up one more feeble complaint about his lowly condition and the Lord just doesn’t want to hear it. He graciously continues to build Gideon up in the Truth of who he is and what he will accomplish by the hand of the Lord in his life. We are who we are by the grace of God, and Gideon was about to come into this undeniable reality. May we too experience for ourselves the undeniable reality of who we truly are by the grace of God!