Seeing Ourselves as Warriors: Wednesday Devotion

Judges 6: 12-16 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

When Gideon was greeted as a “mighty warrior,” he questioned whether he was mighty or a warrior. He advised the Lord that he was the least of the weakest clan in Manasseh. Yet, he is in a cave, bravely threshing wheat in the winepress to protect it from the enemies of his people. In doing so, his clan would have food to eat.

When asked to thresh wheat, Gideon could have said he was too afraid, and why thresh the wheat when their enemies would just take it? That’s the mindset of someone already defeated in life and certainly not the attitude of a mighty warrior or, as stated in the New Living Translation, a “mighty hero.”

Gideon did not see the warrior in himself, maybe because he had been convinced he was the weakest link. Yet, the person willing to challenge the Lord in a face-to-face encounter is indeed a hero and a warrior in my eyes.  The Lord doesn’t explain his decisions to Gideon. He tells him to go in strength and save his people.

Many of us are warriors who have endured and survived many struggles. We are warriors, like Gideon, because of our faith in the Lord God. We accomplish our goals, often without realizing that not everyone who has suffered the trials we have made it through to the end. They quit, afraid of the outcome, rather than keeping their eyes on the Lord.

Appreciate the warrior in you. You may be a teacher, preacher, nurse, blogger, bus driver, or your occupation or hobby. But you face this world daily with the strength that only comes from the Lord, our Creator and our God. I salute you, Mighty Warriors.

Amen.