Daily Thought

Gideon’s response to the Lord’s call teaches us some important lessons about our relationship with God.

First, we notice that he was genuinely respectful. He said, ‘Oh my Lord’. This reveals very clearly that he recognized that he was talking with someone greater than himself and gave him due reverence in the title with which he addressed God. To appreciate the greatness and majesty of God is vital for our development as Christians.

Second, he showed real humility. He was little in his own eyes and was not an arrogant or conceited person. He responded by saying that the Lord’s message of leading Israel to victory seemed impossible, for Gideon belonged to a poor family in one of the least prominent tribes of Israel, and was considered least in his father’s household. He was so low on the scale of importance that he had even been engaged in the menial task of winnowing wheat.

This is always the sort of person whom the Lord can use. Humility means that we do not focus upon ourselves and think we can achieve something in our own strength, but we look to God and seek His resources to enable us to be successful in the task we undertake.

The Lord responded with two reassuring promises to Gideon. First, the Lord’s presence would go with him, for Gideon was given (as have we) the wonderful promise, ‘Surely I will be with thee’, 6. 16. Nothing can be of greater encouragement to the servant of the Lord as he steps out into Christian service than the knowledge of the Saviour’s presence. Those were the words of Jesus to His disciples as He gave them the great commission, ‘lo, I am with you alway’, Matt. 28. 20.

The second promise to Gideon was the certainty of victory. The great army of Midian would be struck down as if they were merely an individual soldier. The Lord had decided that His people had been disciplined for long enough and now was the time for their deliverance. Thus, the Lord’s discipline had achieved its purpose in bringing Israel to repentance.