Then the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with you, valiant warrior.”
Judges 6:12
Have you noticed that as humans, we have an inbuilt ‘Judge-o-meter’? Apparently within a tenth of a second of meeting a stranger we have made major assumptions about that person. We instinctively move toward people we perceive exhibit greatness, strength, stability or perfection, such as famous leaders, celebrities or even a parent who we might describe as our ‘rock.’ We do it with stuff too. At Christmas folk splash crazy money on the biggest, best gifts that will top last year’s.
But what’s wrong with that, it’s just how we’re wired right? Yes and no.
There’s a reason Niagara falls, Kilimanjaro, and the Blue Whale are more notable than the wee stream near our house, Conic Hill or some kid’s pet goldfish. There is majesty rightly attributed to those first examples. We are drawn to them for their wonderful grandeur and beauty. They impress us whilst exposing our tininess and our need for a strength that is not within us naturally.
This uniquely human tension between sensing weakness and chasing greatness reveals something of our deepest need — to know and be known by the One who looks on the heart, our true inner being, not on our shiny outer ‘wrapping.’
Time to examine ourselves this Christmas and ask God to help us view ourselves and others as he does — weak, needy yet intrinsically valuable, even worth dying for.
Gideon was having a crisis of this nature when he was confronted by an angel telling him to lead an army into battle against Midian. I don’t think I would have the guts to argue with an angel (I’d probably pass out), but I actually appreciate his raw, unchecked response:
“Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about?”
Judges 6:13a
He looks at his circumstances and the state of affairs in his land and questions, ‘Where have you been, God?! Where are all the miracles I’ve read about?!’ I don’t think he was being rude, but it was more a cry of desperation, as we see throughout the Psalms. He feels abandoned by God and feels that military, even spiritual defeat is inevitable. It’s a statement of lament, and the Lord saw his disillusioned heart, and was ready with a gentle response. The angel then tells him:
“Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!”
Judges 6:14
This seems like a tall order, but the Lord knows that Gideon will need more reassurance, a walk God was ready to go on with him. Gideon releases his next cry of insecurity:
“Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”
Judges 6:15
There it is. He’s empty, done in, about to leave the chat. He thinks God is all out of gifts for his people, like some substandard Santa at the end of his shift. This is exactly where Gideon needed to be in order to be able to hear one of the most comforting, liberating sentences in the Bible:
“But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
Judges 6:16
‘BUT I will be with you’. This is the hinge that enabled a door to swing open in front of Gideon; a door, that up until this moment was locked and hidden to him.
Similar to Moses being asked to stutter and stammer his way to free his people, he didn’t look the part and had his poem of excuses ready. But God, the gracious, patient, all powerful and loving One was ready to wrap his arms around him and whisper, ‘but, I will be with you.’
The greatest gift wasn’t a magic sword, a strategy, an exercise regime, or an army of strong men - it was the presence of God himself who produces power from desolate weakness.
The gift was a Person.
Gideon seemed to need a lot of reassurances, even after this, that the Lord was truly with him. This comforts my own wayward, doubtful heart as I often forget the evidences of God’s faithfulness to me.
Jesus came from the glory of heaven and stepped into a microscopic cell, developed as a baby in the womb of a young virgin, was born helpless, dirty, and naked, and lived an ordinary life. Until, of course, his extraordinary ministry began at age 30 which led to him being mocked, belittled, spat on and killed for crimes you and I committed. He lived and died in apparent weakness, a servant who wasn’t much to look at.
This ‘judge-o-meter’ concept isn’t a new one. After one glance, the people decided Jesus was not the Messiah they wanted. He wasn’t a handsome, valiant warrior so he was rejected. People despised him, tossing him in the bin like a cheap toy from a Christmas cracker.
So, did he react defensively and give up, like I would? No, Isaiah tells us he was silent, ‘like a lamb led to the slaughter’. He carried his cross, willingly took the hate and slander, died in unfathomable pain; his cosmic strength and authority shrouded in fragility.
“But God raised him from the dead,” Acts 13:30
‘But God…’ did something that blew everybody’s expectations apart. He was raised back to life. Not to life as before tarnished by rejection and apparent frailty but to glorious, technicoloured, vibrant, new life that eclipses any ‘wonder’ of this world, taking his people with him.
Why did God choose to save us this way, or at all? It’s a mystery. But we do know He’s the original and greatest gift giver - so great that he gives us himself, eternally!
So, this Christmas when you are tempted to believe your Father God has abandoned you to your weakness, remember the words spoken to not only Gideon but many other weak people throughout the Bible, and now to you:
“I will be with you.”
And one day he will return to deal evil its prophesied, final, fatal blow, ‘as if it were one man’.
Rejoice!
Written by Cara Bell
A thought to remember: Emmanuel strengthens his people by his presence.
A bit more to read: Judges 6
A question to ask: How might you face your weakness in strength the Lord provides?
A song to sing: What Child Is This?