When getting squeezed by adversities in life
Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. Judges 6:11-16
From the text, Gideon was described as threshing wheat at the bottom of the winepress. Separating the chaff from the grain of wheat should be done outdoors. But Gideon was doing it indoors because he was fearful that the Midianites will come and take away the grain. This is when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and addressed him as “Mighty hero.” He could not believe that he will be called by that title since he looked at himself as weak and that he belonged to a family that was the weakest among the tribe of Manasseh. God is telling Gideon that he will lead an army to defeat the Midianites and it will be accomplished not by the might of the army of Israel but by the working of God. To bring out the juice from an orange, the orange has to be squeezed hard. Gideon looked at himself as timid and weak but later on God will use him to lead an army of three hundred men to defeat the powerful army of Midian. God has to squeeze out of him the courage that he needed to have so he could trust God that He will be with him. There are times that God uses the adversaries you are facing in life so you will realize that you can only find courage and strength to face them when you trust God. Left to yourself you seemed to be powerless over trials but with God on your side, you realize the strength that He will provide. Unless you come to a point of powerlessness, you will not understand the presence and working of God in the life of a believer. As you face trials in life, the only way you could endure is when you find that you are not strong enough to face them and let God intervene. As you grow accepting the limits of your strength, the more you discover your new source of strength. Each time Paul comes to God with his weakness, he discovered who God is and assures him with this word; “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me...For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Blessings,
