The Sword of the Lord and Gideon

     This is a story about a coward named Gideon who God used to lead an army. God seldom uses the big guy, a superhero, or a Hollywood type. Seems He prefers us everyday, average Joe types. Guys and girls who have failed over and over, even given up and quit; maybe even gone into hiding or AWOL like Jonah. God can make a hero out of a milk cow, He doesn't need hero types, he needs servants who will do His Will, people who will say here am I Lord, send me; people willing to pray and face the challenge at hand.
     One day this man named Gideon was doing what cowards do, hiding behind the winepress threshing wheat so the Midianites wouldn't see him and steal the wheat. He wasn't using the regular threshing floor, he was where he wasn't supposed to be, Gideon was hiding out again, then here came Jesus as the Angel of the Lord. Now any time you see the title Angel of the Lord in the Old Testament it is Jesus. Jesus wasn't only born in a feed trough (manger) in Bethlehem, Jesus is Omnipresent, he was Creator of the Universe long before he was baby Jesus, but Christ isn't dependent on time, He is present in all times and in all places, and when you need Him in your place and time, He is already there waiting on you to notice.
     So there was Gideon threshing his wheat when the Angel of the Lord came up and sat down under a shady oak tree and began to watch. He said something a coward didn't understand, he said: The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.
Judges 6:12
     Gideon knew he was no mighty man of valor. I have often imagined him saying, "are you talking to me Lord?",  "not me surely", " I am hiding here in a dark place, hiding from my enemies, I am certainly no man of valor." Yet there was God's Angel talking to no one but the coward himself. God had chosen a coward to lead His Army, a new General for the Army of the Lord, and He had not chosen a born leader, He had chosen Gideon.
     Did your Mother and Father bring you up to be here in Jail today, or did they dream of you being a mighty man or woman of Valor? Does that little boy or girl you have abandoned by your actions still dream of a Valiant Mother or a Daddy who will ride in and sweep them up in strong, loving arms and deliver them from what is troubling them? Or are the out there crying at night; alone, hopeless, desperate, waiting in sorrow? Do you want to be that mighty man or woman of valor you were designed to be? And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house. 16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.
Judges 6:13-16
     Most of us question the Lord when He calls on us. Gideon was no exception. Why him? He was the least of his tribe, the least and youngest of his brothers, the least likely to be called upon to lead an army. Who was he that a Nation would follow him off into warfare? Sometimes the simple things like just witnessing to a friend or worse a family member seem like War, an overwhelming task to us as baby Christians. Who are we for God Himself to call upon us? But we are who He has chosen. Moses said, "Lord I can't talk." I have said the same.
     Gideon did lead that army, but not till he had further tested God to see as we often do if God is real. I guarantee you friend: God is very real. God is There. God is ready to work miracles in your life this very day. God brought down fire from Heaven and directed where the dew would fall to convince Gideon; He may be more subtle today but He is no less willing to give you the power you need to accomplish your task at hand.
     "And Gideon went in, and made ready a kid, and unleavened cakes of an ephah of flour: the flesh he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot, and brought it out unto him under the oak, and presented it. 20 And the angel of God said unto him, Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. 22 And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the Lord, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the Lord face to face. 23 And the Lord said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. 24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the Lord, and called it Jehovahshalom (Jehovah's Peace): unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites."
Judges 6:19-24
     Gideon saw and believed the power of the Lord. You can too. It is there just waiting. So is His Peace. Be that mighty man of valor, your Momma dreamed of, be that General in God's Army, be that friend that counsels a brother in need. Be whatever God calls you to be, because it is His Power not yours that will lead you to victory.