Judges 6:11-24 ESV Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 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.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

Who did God use to overcome the Midianites? A man named Gideon who had some serious doubts.

When God first called Gideon, Gideon responded as I think many of us feel sometimes: “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13). In other words, “Where are all the miracles you once promised? Because right now, I’m living in fear. I feel forgotten. I feel disappointed with God.”

Yet God always interrupts our disappointments with a bigger agenda. Today God might be interrupting you. I pray you sense the Lord graciously reminding you to dream again, believe again, trust Him again. God still has the ability to do more than you can ask or imagine. I know you have your reasons to not believe, but God has His rea­sons for placing gifts and purpose in you.

God said to Gideon, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive” (Judges 6:16). God told him to mount an offensive attack against the raiding Midianites. And what would he need to move forward?

God said (my paraphrase), “Gideon, I’m going to give you My presence and My power to accomplish the call I gave you while you were still in your mother’s womb. I want you to understand, Gideon, not only do you need My pres­ence, but you also need My power.”

You see, the power of God is what enables us to do the thing He has called us to do. In order to accomplish a God-sized dream, you and I need God-sized power. It is foolish for us to think we can accomplish what He is asking us to do void of His power. And His power is exactly what He promises us.

The Bible tells us in Romans 8:11, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” The power of the risen Savior is running through your body. The power you need to be faithful and bold is the natural by-product of your surrender to the authority of Jesus.

Let these words resonate deep in your soul: The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

What challenge are you facing today that requires supernatural power to overcome?