The way God saw Gideon
In Judges 6:11-12 we read, “Gideon was threshing some wheat secretly in a wine press, so that the Midianites would not see him. The LORD's angel appeared to him there and said, “The LORD is with you, brave and mighty man!” (GNT)
The people of Israel were in an arduous situation, as they were constantly attacked and plundered by the Midianites. The Midianites invaded their land, ransacked and looted all their produce, and left them bare and depleted of everything. It was during these troublesome times, that Gideon had to thresh wheat in a winepress for fear of being plundered by the Midianites. In this hopeless situation, it was apparent that Gideon became discouraged, fainthearted, timid, and overtaken by feelings of insignificance and worthlessness. However, when God saw Gideon he saw in him a gallant and heroic man, and that is why the angel of the Lord who greeted him addressed him as a ‘brave and mighty man’.
This is a reminder to us that, God does not look at people and situations the way man does. While we judge by outward appearance and circumstances, the Lord sees things differently as He perceives things that we cannot.
In Judges 6:6 we read, “And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord.” (NLT)
There were two reasons why Gideon felt so crestfallen, and disheartened. Firstly, the Midianites were oppressing the Israelites far beyond what they could bear. As Gideon stood before the angel of the Lord with countless questions, the Lord encouraged him with these words from Judges 6:14, “"Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!" (NLT)
In Judges 6:15 we read, And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” (ESV)
Secondly, Gideon’s inadequacy arose from his family and background, as his clan was considered the weakest, and his family insignificant. He could therefore not accept the fact that God had chosen him to go and lead the people of Israel, as Gideon had resigned himself to the thought that he was a nonentity.
How often have we been where Gideon was, overwhelmed by difficulties that seem far too much to handle. There are also no answers as to why we go through these hard to handle seasons, if the Lord is with us.We limit ourselves when we allow our past experiences, present circumstances or the opinions of others shape the way we look at ourselves. When degraded and despised by others, our tendency like Gideon is to allow discouragement and disappointment get the better of us. It is dismal though that sometimes, parents demean their children and their capabilities, so that they often grow up feeling worthless and inconsequential.
The good news is that the Lord is willing to use each one of us, no matter who we are if we accept God’s plan, and purposes for our lives. Often times fear prohibits us from venturing out in faith because we have permitted our circumstances and the opinions of others to overpower us, and have thereby failed to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives. It is only when we learn to regard ourselves the way the Lord perceives us, can we see ourselves changed and transformed, and when this change happens, not only will we become a blessing to others, we too will be blessed in the process.
The way God saw Abraham
We read in Genesis 15:1 -2, “After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” (ESV)
When God visited Abraham, and told him that He was His shield and great reward, all that Abraham could think about was the fact that he was childless. God looked at Abraham as the father of many nations, but Abraham could not comprehend this, as he was an old man, and had no children to call his own. Abraham could not accept the promises of God only because he was engulfed by the personal needs in his life, and often he must have been scorned for not having been able to have a child, which might have left him disheartened.
Abraham had every reason to not be excited about God’s promise. His situation seemed grim, he was old, his wife way beyond the age of child bearing, and there was no hope of having one child of his own. It was to such a man, God promised the vast and numerous blessings and offspring of his own. From Abraham’s viewpoint the situation was unattainable, but from God’s perspective there was nothing that is impossible for Him. Furthermore He is the God who is always faithful to keep His promise.
In Genesis 15:4-5 we read, And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
When Abraham assumed that the heir the Lord spoke about would be Eliezer, his head servant, the Lord reiterated that his heir would be his very own son. The Lord did something intriguing with Abraham, he called him out of his tent inside of which he would have had nothing to see and made him look up towards the heavens. That night the Lord lifted Abraham’s gaze upwards, to see the numerous stars in the vast heavens, and gave him an assignment to try and count them if he could. Obviously Abraham failed, and the Lord promised Abraham that his offspring would be as copious as the infinite number of stars in the heavens at night. It seemed that God had to literally change Abraham’s narrow mindset, and enable him see things from God’s broader perspective. By making him look up, God wanted Abraham to realize the power of God’s mighty arm.
In Psalm 147:4 we read, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” (KJV)
The stars that Abraham couldn’t count and we can’t, God can. He not only knows the number of the stars in the heavens, He also calls them all by their names. This was the mighty God, who brought Abraham from the confines of his tent, and gave him that absolutely amazing upward look.
We must train ourselves to think thoughts of faith, and not let those around us or our challenging circumstances influence our faith walk with the Lord. When faced with those impossible situations, the Lord wants us to be rid of the negative mentality that makes us disbelieve, and doubt the power of God in our lives. Many people have resigned themselves to their problematic situation, and are unable to exercise their faith in God, because they have allowed their difficulties to overwhelm them. The wonderful news is that the Lord sees way beyond our circumstances, and the one who indwells us is a mighty, miracle working God. He is the one who created the world and everything in it with just the power of His word, and His plans for us are far greater than our problems.
It is simply not enough if we acknowledge God as Jehovah Rapha (our healer), Jehovah Nissi (our banner), Jehovah Jireh (our provider) and Jehovah Shalom (our peace giver) only during times of worship. Our worship must become a reality in our everyday lives as we experience the power of this mighty God, as our healer in our time of sickness, as our banner to deliver us from trouble, as our provider who takes care of all our needs, and as our peace-giver in seasons of turmoil. We must ask the Lord to transform our minds, and confess the promises of God in our lives daily, believing that the Lord has marvelous plans for us and for our children.
In Romans 4:17 we read, “As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. [He was appointed our father] in the sight of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and speaks of the nonexistent things that [He has foretold and promised] as if they [already] existed.” (AMPC)
In the above mentioned verse, the Lord is aptly described as the one who gives life to the dead things, and can speak life to those things that are completely nonexistent. When God saw Abraham, He envisioned him as the father of many nations though Abraham himself could never envisage God’s promise for his life.
We read in Genesis 15:6, “Then Abram believed the Lord, and that faith was regarded as the basis of Abram’s approval by the Lord.” (GW)
Though the promise of God came to Abraham, there was no change in his situation, and no evidence that the promise would actually be fulfilled for many long years. However in spite of adverse circumstances, and the long delay, Abraham still believed in the Lord, and the Lord accounted it to him as righteousness.
There are many incidents in the Bible where impossible situations changed because people believed like the marriage at Cana, where the water turned to wine or the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years who was healed instantly, because she believed in Jesus, and had faith to simply touch the hem of his garment.
When faced with burdensome and demanding situations we must go the Lord, and believe that He can intervene to alter everything for us. We must not allow the bitter experiences of the past, the problematic situations of the present, or fears to grip our mind, but rather place our faith on God, and His word. Let us decide to look at everything in our lives from God’s divine perspective. All of us by placing our faith in Jesus have become children of Abraham, and we must have the faith that our father Abraham had, and trust the Lord to effectuate all of His promises in our lives.
We read in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” (NASB)
The blessing of God to those of us who believe in Him, and received Him is that we have been given the right and the authority to become children of God. The authority to be His children is already given, but it is up to us to believe, and appropriate it in our day to day lives. When we live with this thought, the way we live will be revolutionized, and so will our prayers for we can come boldly to the throne of grace with no fear whatsoever.
When we believe in the Lord Jesus, the heavenly Father beholds us the way He beheld Jesus when he came out of the waters of baptism when the heavens opened and God the Father declared in Matthew 3:17, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”(ESV). It was also this same Jesus who cried out to His Father on the cross of Calvary ‘My God, My God why have you forsaken me’. There was a great exchange that happened that day on the cross, the sins of each one of us and of the entire world, past, present and future was placed entirely on Jesus and He became sin for us. The face of the Father turned against Jesus who became sin for us, so that God’s grace and favor could rest on each one of us, enabling us to become sons and daughters of God.
As children of God we will sometimes fall, but the Lord will not reject or deny that we are his children, but rather his word assures us in Proverbs 24:16, “for though the righteous fall seven times, they will rise again…” (NIV)
When we sin we need not hide our sins, but can run to the Lord who has promised us mercy and forgiveness for we read in Proverbs 28:13, “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (NKJV)
We also read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.” (CSB)
The sinless Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross so that each one of us can be made just and receive His righteousness. Let us pray, walk and live as the true children of God as we represent Him, and His righteousness in this world.
Rev. F. Andrew Dixon
www.goodnewfriends.net
Transcribed by: Sis. Esther Collins
