The Strength You Have

Read: Judges 6:1-16

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” Judges 6:14

IN WORD

The angel of God found Gideon hiding from Midianite raiders in a winepress. Needless to say, this was not a position of strength. Gideon even voiced his insecurities, not only about his own strength but about God’s: “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? . . . Where are all the miracles?” (Judges 6:13). This cowering clansman considered himself, his family, and his tribe the least likely to succeed. And he saw the oppressors as virtually unstoppable.

It’s in that context that God called him a mighty hero. God saw the warrior within, a Kingdom nature before Gideon’s own people ever even became a kingdom. The clan would try to make him a king, but Gideon wasn’t interested in ruling. He was, however, qualified to lead, even when he saw no strength in himself. With God on his side, he had strength enough.

God proved that later, reducing Gideon’s army from thirty-two thousand men to three hundred and accomplishing a great victory against an intimidating foe. He takes delight in choosing the weak, foolish, poor people of this world and making them great. He confounds enemies not by overwhelming their strengths but by exposing them as mere facades. He is great at reminding the proud how unfounded their pride is. He displays His strength through those who humbly let Him.

IN DEED

That’s why we are to be fearless people—not because we are so strong but because He is. We can embrace weakness because the King we serve uses our lack of power as an opportunity to display His. In the process, we find that while we were cowering in fear, we were simply hiding from the opportunity He wanted to use for His purposes and our good. We didn’t know that the strength we already had was enough for us to get up and move in faith. All along, God’s perspective was true. A mighty hero really was inside us, waiting to come out and win victories for the Kingdom.

ADDITIONAL READING: 1 Corinthians 1:27-28

The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself.

CHARLES SPURGEON