Have I Not Sent You

And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to 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.” Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” Judges 6:12-14

The angel of God came to remind Gideon that God is with him and that he is a mighty man of valor. Before the angel approached Gideon, the Lord was with him, and he was a mighty man of valour. The angel came to just remind him. We don't know how many days or years the Lord was with Gideon before the angel came. However, because of Midianites' oppression, Gideon did not recognise the Lord was with him and went into hiding and lived a life of fear with lot of questions about God. There was so much grace of God and work of God done in Gideon's life, yet the Midianites' oppression nullified it. The great potential in Gideon’s life was nullified by the enemy( Satan or self). He was looking for a deliverer when he was actually the deliverer. It's a beautiful way in which God deals with Gideon.

When God said, "Have I not sent you?" it is like Gideon was struggling with so many questions and he (Gideon) was the answer to all of them. Gideon was the answer to all his own questions.

When God came – He told Gideon “Go in the might of yours”. He(God) did not give him any additional authority or strength. The authority and strength that Gideon possessed was sufficient to deliver Israel from the Midianites.

So many times in our difficult situations, the existing strength deposited by God in our lives is sufficient enough to overcome them. We don’t require any additional strength, encounter or might from God to overcome our difficult situations. Gideon had potential in himself to deliver Israel, but was tricked by the enemy( Satan or self) into believing that God was not with him and he was not equipped for the task. In difficult times, the enemy is usually self, not Satan. The self is focused and evaluates things based on external events that are occurred in the past and present, whereas the Spirit of God evaluates things from God's overall plan for our lives. The self deceives you the most than Satan. Satan we can rebuke but self has to broken by the word and Spirit of God. The self deceives you more than Satan. We can rebuke Satan, but self has to broken by the word and Spirit of God. The easy way to know whether we are led by our self or the Spirit of God is by emotions. Most people led by self are very emotional.

Ask God about a difficult situation, whether the enemy has tricked you or not? If God says enemy is tricking you, “Go in the might of yours” to overcome your difficult situations. Don't allow the enemy deceive you into believing that God is far away and that you are unprepared to handle the difficult situation.

If Gideon was a lion, this lion was living the life of a tortoise. The enemy deceived Gideon and misrepresented (gave a wrong impression of) God and himself. God is not far from Gideon, but was with him. The enemy successfully deceived Gideon into believing that God is far away and unconcerned about his situations. When we are in difficult situations, the enemy tries to create an impression that God is far away, unconcerned about our problems, and that we are not well-equipped by God to deal with them. If the enemy is able to manipulate or deceive us into believing that we are not equipped to handle the situations, the enemy has succeeded.

In difficult situations, many people with God's calling fall into the enemy's trap, i.e. believing that God is far away and that they don’t have the potential to enter and carry out God's plan. Check with God to see if the enemy deceived you or not. If the enemy has deceived you, ask God to reignite and fulfil his purpose through you. Ask God for more confirmation signs. You do not require a new encounter or word from God; the existing strength and wisdom that God has bestowed upon you is sufficient. Do not wait any longer, Gideon’s, start entering the plans of God.