“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” Isaiah 40:29
As we study the Lord’s call of Gideon we need to understand the contrast behind might and weakness. God saw Gideon as mighty
yet Gideon’s whole appeal not to obey God is based on how weak he sees himself.
When the angel of the Lord called Gideon mighty (verse 12), what did he see? He saw a man who had the might of the humble. He was
willing to lower himself to thresh wheat in a winepress if that is what it took to feed himself and his family. Gideon had might in caring about Israel. He cared they were in captivity and subject to a godless master. Gideon was mighty because he had knowledge of God. He
knew the great works that God had done on behalf of Israel in the past. Gideon was mighty because he had hope. He hoped God would do those works again in Israel. Gideon was mighty because he had a heart that was willing to listen and learn. While what the Angel of the Lord told him sounded infeasible he was willing to listen and believe even when it went against what he saw. Finally, while Gideon may not have realized it, he had the might of the weak. “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” (I Corinthians 1:27) At the same time Gideon’s weakness tempted him to sin against God. First it led to thinking the battle was one of self-confidence not of God confidence. When Gideon evaluated his ability to win based on his own capabilities he was trusting himself, not God. Second, we see Gideon becomes cowardly and defeated. He looks at the circumstances around him and becomes overwhelmed with the severity and hopelessness of the circumstances. Gideon’s weaknesses kept him from seeking God’s face in the middle of a disaster. Third, while Gideon had a knowledge of God’s power he did not understand God’s love. Despite the unnamed prophet sharing with Israel that it was their disobedience that brough God’s correction on them, Gideon seemed to blame God and imply He did not love His people and had abandoned them. Fourth, the circumstances tempt Gideon to believe there is no hope. The current situation is the way it will be for Israel forever. This is the same error the world believes about the return of Christ (2 Peter 3:1-8). , Gideon’s weakness tempts him to believe God could never use him. He believe His weakness is superior to God’s power. When this is the case a person will never step out for God believing God can do great things through him. Sixth, and perhaps a culmination of all the temptations to doubt above, Gideon was tempted not to believe God’s promises. When the Angel of the Lord told him God would be with him, it did not move or inspire Gideon. When the Angel of the Lord told Gideon he was God’s answer to lead Israel to defeat the Midianites, he did not believe it. He may have justified his unbelief in God by stating his own inadequacies but in the final analysis
Gideon was walking by sight not by faith.
What can we learn? A commentator once wrote “If we can do nothing, self-confidence is the height of presumption. If God can do
everything, despondency is the height of folly.” God gives us the stories in the Old Testament to serve as examples. We learn from good examples how to live and from bad examples what to avoid. Here we see Gideon. He is lived in the pressure cooker of oppression at a time when it seemed God was silent. These are hard times that test what he truly believes. Is God love and will He keep his
promises even when it is very dark? It becomes easy to walk by sight instead of faith. It becomes easy to believe that God’s promises are for other people or for other eras of time but not for us. It is easy to forget that God is always in control. That means when times are tough we examine ourselves to see if God is correcting us. If He is, we repent and return to our first love. If not, we meditate on God’s character and promises and hold fast through the dark and wait on God.
Look for God’s will in God’s way in God’s timing. It is always perfect.