Mighty Woman of Valor

I was reading the story of Gideon yesterday morning before church. The Lord had given the Isrealites over into the hand of Midian, one of their enemies, because they weren't following God. So one day this little guy named Gideon was out working when he looked over and saw an angel sitting under a tree. I'm kinda thinking if I saw an angel sitting under a tree, there would need to be a clothes change.

This angel presented himself to Gideon and told him the Lord was with him and called him a "mighty man of valor". Gideon hadn't worked out in a while so knew the message wasn't for him. The angel then proceeded to tell Gideon that with his might he would save Isreal from the hand of the Midianites.

Gideon was quick to tell him that he was the least of the least. He had no capability to do any such thing. I love this story because I relate so well. The angel told him he was the one chosen by God to lead this battle. Gideon was not convinced it was God so made a few little tests for God to pass to make sure it was really what He wanted. The whole "fleece" thing.

When he was finally convinced, he texted 32,000 of his biggest friends and asked them to meet him for a fight. The Lord told him there were too many so Gideon asked all those who didn't want to fight to go home. 22,000 men ran like the wind. Then God told him to have the remaining 10,000 to drink from the pond and he would tell him how to separate them. 300 men knelt down and cupped their hands and brought the water to their mouths. The rest bent over and lapped like dogs. God sent the puppies home and kept the others.

Long story short, the 300 men held a trumpet in one hand and a torch inside a jar on the other. They surrounded the Midianite camp and when Gideon gave the signal all the men broke their jar so the torch would show and blew their trumpets. Scared the people inside the camp so bad they started killing each other and some ran off. The Isrealite people were no longer under the Midianite hand.

The 300 men? I think God chose them because they knew they were in a battle. Stayed up and alert knowing the enemy was lurking.

Gideon? He knew he was incapable on his own of fighting off the enemy. Yet God chose him for this battle and used him to defeat the evil.

You and Me? God has also chosen us to fight off the enemy in our lives and the lives of the ones we love so dearly. We don't have what it takes to do it on our own. God has to do it. But we have to always be aware of the enemy and on constant alert. Available and willing to be used.

Valor - to show oneself strong; warlike (Hebrew)

Virtuous - to show oneself strong; warlike (Hebrew)

I'm just sayin'.