Mighty Hero
“The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”
Judges 6:12 (NLT)
Our verse is in the context of the persecuted Israelites crying out to the Lord for deliverance.
“The Israelites did evil in the LORD’s sight. So the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.“ (Judges 6:1-2 NLT)
The Israelites had been worshipping the gods of the Amorites, but “when they cried out to the LORD because of Midian, the LORD sent a prophet to the Israelites.“ (Judges 6:7-8 NLT)
The prophet He chose was an ordinary man, Gideon. “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!” (Judges 6:15 NLT)
God’s answer was, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” (Judges 6:14 NLT)
God didn’t berate him for his lack of faith, He simply said, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” (Judges 6:16 NLT)
What’s even more interesting is that after Gideon raised his army, the Lord said, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.“ (Judges 7:2 NLT)
Of Gideon’s 32,000 soldiers, the Lord trimmed them to a mere 300 men. They would be fighting an enemy in the range of 135,000 men. An army that was “like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!” (Judges 7:12 NLT)
It was just after midnight when Gideon and his men attacked. He chased them over the Jordan River and when they reached Karkor, there was only 15,000 warriors remaining ”of the allied armies of the east, for 120,000 had already been killed.” (Judges 8:10 NLT)
He took the Midianites by surprise and captured their kings and their remaining warriors.
“That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated Midian, which never recovered. Throughout the rest of Gideon’s lifetime—about forty years—there was peace in the land.“ (Judges 8:28 NLT)
The point of the story is that the weakest person succeeds against any enemy if the Lord is with them. What matters is that God is with us.
Regardless of how weak, weary, or confused we feel, let’s keep this truth in mind. God has said, “Surely I will be with you…”
As children of God, our heavenly Father is walking alongside us through our difficulties. We shouldn’t focus on our weaknesses. Rather, let’s acknowledge our omnipotent God. Our problems will never exhaust His inexhaustible resources of love, wisdom, power, forgiveness, and abundant grace.