Judges 6:11-12

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.”

Judges 6:13

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.”

Judges 6:14-15

…“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.”

Judges 6:16

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

Even though Gideon looked around and it seemed God had abandoned them, even though he didn’t have God stories of his own, even though he looked in the mirror and saw a wimp,  he chose to trust God anyway.

When you have the faith to get out of the winepress and to follow Jesus, you’ll experience that God is faithful.

Gideon eventually experienced that “the Lord was with him.”

Gideon eventually became the “mighty warrior” God said he was.

:::RESPONSE:::

Prayerfully consider, “What is my next step of obedience in following Jesus?” (see the link below)

Be honest about your struggles, and ask God to empower you to obey him, even if it means you have to ‘do it scared.’