Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
The call of Gideon: God is looking for ordinary people
to do extraordinary
work
Judges 6:11-16
V.12“The
angel of the lord appeared to him and said: The lord is with you, you mighty
warrior’’
The angel of the
Lord calls and commissions Gideon. With the arrival of the angel it became
clear that the Lord intended to save Israel once again, and that his chosen
instrument on this occasion was Gideon, whose call followed the same pattern as
that of Moses in Exodus:3. Like Moses, he received his call while he was
in hiding from the enemy, doing menial work to keep his family alive. Like
Moses, he was told that the Lord was sending him on a mission. He protested, as
Moses did, that he was inadequate for the task. He received the same promise as
Moses, “I will be with you”, and, like Moses he received a sign to confirm his
call. Finally, miraculous fire signalled God’s presence, as it did in the call
of Moses. So, the message is clear: Gideon was to be used by God to save Israel
from the Midianites, just as Moses was used to save Israel from the Egyptians.
The God of the Exodus has come to Israel’s rescue again.
God’s Presence:
Here we see that Midianites destroyed every crop they had and laid waste the whole
land, but how did Gideon manage to sow, take care and reap the wheat which he
was now harvesting. It is because in V.12, the angel says,” the lord is with
you’’. When God’s presence is with you, He will help you gather your harvest
without the enemy stealing it.
Small Steps
God always looks for small beginnings. When everyone else feared the enemies,
Gideon took small steps to beat the wheat in the winepress, so that the enemy
would not steal it. God blessed this small step, that He chose Gideon to rescue
the nation from the hands of the enemy. God looks for small actions which we
take like David, before killing Goliath, he killed a lion and deer in the
forest, another example is a small boy with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, when he
brought it to Jesus, it was able to feed 5000+ people. God will bless our small
steps into greater destiny.