¹¹ And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

¹² And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

It always intrigued me that God would address Gideon in a manner that is not fitting with his personality and characteristics.

The Israelites had sinned against the Lord – again – and God had given them over to be ruled by the Midianites. They were living in servitude, their crops were destroyed, and they lived in constant fear.

The angel addressed Gideon as “..thou mighty man of valor” and that would have been Gideons cue to look over his shoulder and say “Who, me?” Because that greeting was the complete opposite to what Gideon thought about himself.

Judges 6:15

And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house”.

Here is a perfect example of one who was fearful, faithless, doubtful and lacking self-confidence. (Anyone else been there?). He came up with ready excuses as to why he is not the ideal candidate for the job. He was the least in his household and they were poor. Obviously age and lack of finances were not good enough reasons for the Lord to go looking for someone else. Gideon was fully persuaded that he will not amount to anything, or be good at anything, except thresh wheat and hide.

There is a difference between situational doubt and fear, to living in a state of doubt and fear.

So why did the Lord choose a man who didn’t fit the bill, to be a leader of an army and deliver the Israelites? Why did the angel address him as “Thou mighty man of valor”?  Surely God could have found a general or captain of the army who had experience, training and had proven himself in warfare to lead His people to victory?

What God thinks about us is very different to what we think about ourselves.

• We are not what our negative thoughts say who we are.
• We are not what our circumstances have dictated to us.
• We are not what others say who we are.
• We are not what our experiences have shaped us into.

So what and where is our true identity?  

We are the mirror image of the Great I AM because He created us in His image, and His image alone. The Word says we have the mind of Christ, so we are called to think like Christ…at all times. Too often we strive to think like Christ when crisis or calamity knocks on our door. But the mind of Christ cannot be turned on and off like a tap. It’s meant to be a perpetual state.

If Christ lives in us, then the ability to display His qualities, and think like him and act like him is already there. But if we choose to believe contrary to this truth, then the signs that follow our lives will be reflective of that belief. It is possible to be overcomers in one area of our life and fail in other areas, if we choose to renew only one area of our thought life.

Gideon, even though he struggled with fear and doubt, chose to take God at His Word and led the Israelites to victory. Throughout the Bible you will see the Lord purposely choosing the unqualified, weak, nobodies to do extraordinary things in His Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 1:26-29

²⁶ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:

²⁷ But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

²⁸ And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: ²⁹ That no flesh should glory in his presence.

We will teach a series on “Biblical Mind Renewal” starting September, 2023 through our Sound of the Lord Mission bible study. We hear many teachings and messages on how to overcome fear, doubt, insecurities etc.. in the life of a believer. But these are just fruits of what we think and believe. If our mind is not governed by God’s Word, our life will be tossed to and fro on every wave of life’s twists and turns. It will affect our relationships, finances and even our health. To destroy that fruit, we need to renew our minds daily with God’s Word. Scripturally, this is the only way we can transform our life.

Lets find out what God thinks about us, and says about us. Mark your calendar for September 7, 2023 and join us as we study God’s Word together. This could be the greatest investment you make in your life because the fruit of renewing your mind and the reward that follows will be priceless.

In His Service,

Sohani Faria