A "Mighty Man of Valor"

A mother was reading Bible stories to her little girl, telling her all about its great heroes like Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Esther, and Deborah.

The little girl looked up and said, "You know what, Mom? God was a lot more exciting back then."

We might feel that way too sometimes. We hear of the way things were and think, It is not that way anymore. I wish it were like that again. That is how Gideon felt. He had heard of the days when God was ruling and protecting and providing for Israel. In Judges 6 we find him trying to prepare the small amount of wheat he had hidden behind the walls of a small winepress. Gideon was hungry, hurting, humiliated, and afraid, like the rest of Israel.

Then the Bible tells us the "Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ " (Judges 6:12).

Surprisingly, Gideon began questioning 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" (verse 13).

God could have rebuked Gideon. After all, the Israelites were in this predicament because of their disobedience. Instead God said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" (verse 14).

You see, God saw Gideon for what he could become: a "mighty man of valor"—and God would let him live up to that title. What is God calling you to do for Him today?