Joyful Ruins

Gideon anxiously protected himself from danger. He threshed at night in order to save his wheat from the Midianites. (Bible story at the bottom of the page for reference).

What do you do to protect yourself? Perhaps you overanalyze in order to prepare for bad things ahead. Maybe you over plan in order to keep control. Or you isolate yourself in order to avoid hurt.

The angel of the Lord chose Gideon (angel of the Lord is believed to be Jesus). He saw Gideon’s anxious protective ways and He said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior”. God knows Gideon. He saw his anxious ways, his insecurity, and He calls him a mighty warrior.

He sees your fear. He sees your anxiety, OCD. He sees your protective actions, your overthinking. He tells you, “I am with you”. And He calls you, “mighty warrior”.

Gideon questions God. He questions God’s presence because bad things had happened. He has the evidence.

You probably do too. There have been bad things. Circumstances point to danger and this makes you ask, where are you God? Are you with me?

Now the answer to this question is not really an answer to this question: “Go in the strength you have… Am I not sending you?”

The angel of the Lord reminds Gideon he has purpose, he is capable, he has strength.

Maybe God wants us to have perspective, to see that circumstances may be challenging, but we have a choice in how we respond to them and He has a purpose for them and us in the midst of them. We have a choice to not let the hopelessness of the situation steal our inner strength.

But Gideon only sees his limitations. He see the smallness of himself.

Do you? Do you see only all that is wrong with you? All that is weak and small?

Now the angel of the Lord reminds Gideon of where hope, strength, identity comes form: “I will be with you!”

Yes, you may be weak, limited, small, but it does not matter because God will be with you.

Are you facing deep overwhelming grief? God will be with you!

Are you fighting sickness day after day? God will be with you!

Are you bombarded by anxious thoughts wherever you turn? God will be with you!

Here’s the relatable truth about Gideon. Though God told him he was a mighty warrior, chosen to save Israel, and that God was with him, Gideon still wasn’t sure. Gideon still needed more. Gideon continued talking to God and the angel of the Lord said, “I will wait….”

He is patient with you, He is gentle with your doubts, your growth, your setbacks, anxiety. He will wait. He won’t walk away. He is with you in this.

And Gideon brought an offering to the angel of the Lord. Through this interaction, Gideon realized that he had seen the angel of the Lord face to face. He learned peace.

As you go to Him continuously, as you surrender, as you talk, pray, as you spend time in the garden with Him, you, too, will come face to face with Him. You, too, will find peace.

I pray Jehovah Shalom will be your gift through whatever season you face. I pray that “God with you” will be enough to fight the fight and come out victorious.

I pray you will know that God saw a young anxious fearful Gideon and used him to save a nation. AND God see you, anxious, grieving, overworking, afraid, sick, and He chooses you. He stays with you, waits with you. He speaks peace to you. He sends you. He gives you victory.

Judges 6: 11-24

¹¹ The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. ¹² When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

¹³ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

¹⁴ The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

¹⁵ “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

¹⁶ The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”

¹⁷ Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. ¹⁸ Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

¹⁹ Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah^[a] of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

²⁰ The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. ²¹ Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. ²² When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

²³ But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

²⁴ So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.