Judges 6:13-18: a reflection

13Gideon said to him, “Oh, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, ‘Didn’t the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian.” 14The LORD looked at him, and said, “Go in this your might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you?” 15He said to him, “O Lord, how shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16The LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” 17He said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who talk with me. 18Please don’t go away until I come to you, and bring out my present, and lay it before you.” He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

God calls Gideon to save Israel from Midian, and Gideon responds with honest questions and a keen sense of his own smallness. If the LORD is with us, he asks, why has all this happened? And when God calls him, he protests: How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my father's house. But God's answer does not rest on Gideon's strength; it rests on God's presence: Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike down Midian as one man.

Notice God's answer to Gideon's sense of weakness. Gideon protests that he is the least, from the weakest clan, unequal to the task; and God does not argue that Gideon is stronger than he thinks. Instead, God gives a different ground for confidence: I will be with you. The qualification for the task was not Gideon's strength, which was small, but God's presence, which would be enough. Gideon's weakness was not the deciding factor; God's presence was.

That is an encouragement for when God calls us to what feels beyond us. Like Gideon, we may protest our smallness, our weakness, our unfitness for what God asks; and often we are right that in ourselves we are unequal to it. But God's answer to us is the same as to Gideon: I will be with you. The qualification is not our strength, but God's presence. When God calls you to something that feels beyond your strength, do not let your sense of weakness be the final word; God's answer is his presence with you. He does not call the sufficient, but promises to be with those he calls, making his presence their sufficiency. Go, as Gideon was sent, not in your own strength, but in the assurance that God will be with you; his presence, not your strength, is what makes you equal to what he calls you to.

Lord, when you called Gideon to save Israel, he protested that his clan was the weakest and he the least in his father's house; and you did not argue that he was stronger than he thought, but gave a different ground for confidence: surely I will be with you. Encourage me with that when you call me to what feels beyond me. Like Gideon, I may protest my smallness, my weakness, my unfitness for what you ask; and often I am right that in myself I am unequal to it. But your answer to me is the same as to Gideon: I will be with you. The qualification is not my strength, but your presence. When you call me to something that feels beyond my strength, keep me from letting my sense of weakness be the final word; your answer is your presence with me. You do not call the sufficient, but promise to be with those you call, making your presence their sufficiency. Help me go, as Gideon was sent, not in my own strength, but in the assurance that you will be with me; your presence, not my strength, is what makes me equal to what you call me to. Be with me, Lord, and I will go.