5 pivotal words

Judges 6

12 The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, "Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!"

  13 "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."
  

14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!"

  15 "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!"

  16 The LORD said to him, "I will be with you.

And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man."

You can read the whole story about Gideon in Judges 6, 7, & 8.

The Midianites were raiding in Jewish territory, take food, livestock, killing people, & causing havoc.

Then the Lord told Gideon to get rid of the Midianites.

The verses I quoted above is part of the conversation Gideon had with the Lord when told to go whup up on the Midianites.

The long & the short of this story is that Gideon started out with a fairly large army, but God had Gideon cull the group down to a fairly small group.

The Gideon went on to do exactly what the Lord had told him to do.

God gave Gideon victory over the Midianites in spite of overwhelming odds.

The upshot of this whole story are 5 words the Lord says to Gideon when He gives Godeon the challenge to get rid of Midianites.

Remember Gideon had basically said I'm the lowest of the low – my tribe is the weakest, & I'm the weakest of the weak.

iow, he told the Lord that he was a nothing & a nobody.

And then the Lord said the 5 pivotal words...

“I will be with you.”

The Lord obviously felt that was enough on the matter of Gideon's abilities & worthiness in connection with what God was calling him to be & do.

The Lord basically said, “I'm with you – that's enough.”

The Lord often calls us to be & do some things that a WAY BEYOND our skill set, our abilities, our courage, our... well, beyond anything we are or can be & do.

And His answer for that is the same for us as it was for Gideon.

“I will be with you.”

Think about that today & how that relates to you.