“The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Gideon couldn’t believe it. Who me? he must have said to himself.

A mighty man of valor? All the evidence pointed to the contrary. The Midianites were harassing his people; they weren’t seeing God’s miracle-working power as the Israelites of old had, and Gideon himself was just a young lad from the weakest tribe in Israel. Surely, he had heard the angel wrong, or had he?

God could see in Gideon someone willing to be instructed and guided by His Spirit. God saw that Gideon was just the kind of person Israel needed to deliver them from their foreign oppressors, but Gideon didn’t see it, at least not at first.

Could the way you see yourself be different from how God sees you? Do you feel insignificant because of your family of origin? Do you feel forsaken by God because of painful circumstances? Do you feel like you don’t have much to offer God’s cause? Then remember what God is truly looking for at this exact hour in Earth’s history.

God is searching for people who are seeking Him (Psalm 53:2), people who have a heart loyal to Him. He wants to “show Himself strong” on their behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9). God is not looking for the strongest, most successful, well-connected or best-looking (1 Samuel 16:7). He is looking for those willing to surrender to Him, like Gideon, to accomplish the mission He has for them.

In Gideon’s time, God tasked the Israelites with subduing all the Canaanite peoples. However, the Israelites did not complete the task (Judges 1:28). In our day, we have been given the commission of taking the gospel to “the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Yet there remains a large swath of people who have not heard. The task remains incomplete, and so God looks for modern Gideons, men and women whom He can use in the greatest work ever given to humanity.

Hudson Taylor once said, “God calls those who are weak enough to lean on him.” The apostle Paul said, “God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27). If you feel weak, unimportant, insignificant or unqualified, you may actually be more prepared for God’s work than you realize. If your sense of weakness leads you to lean more heavily upon Jesus and trust Him more completely, God can use you more powerfully than the one who feels self-confident and strong. What you see as weakness, God may see as strength.

Friend, “God is with you, you mighty man (or woman) of valor!” Will you allow the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to see yourself as God sees you and to accomplish the work He is calling you to? If so, please contact us today at 800-937-4236 or recruiter@afmonline.org.

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