Judges 6:12,13 – “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, ‘The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!’ 13Gideon said to Him, ‘O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.’”
Today’s Old Testament One Year Bible reading opens in Joshua chapter 6 with a commentary on the condition of Israel. The Midianites had oppressed them because they did evil in the sight of the Lord. Israel would hide from the Midianites whenever they came to destroy the harvest. It is in the midst of this fear and opposition that an angel appears to Gideon and tells him two things: 1) The Lord is with you, and 2) You are a mighty man of valor. Gideon didn’t feel either one of those comments. Immediately he responds with questions. The first one is, “If God is with us, why is this happening to us?” Have you ever been there? If God is present, if God is near, if God is with me, why am I going through what I’m going through? Secondly, Gideon asks, “Where are all His miracles?” He’s thinking, “God isn’t moving on our behalf.” Maybe you’ve thought to yourself, “God could get me out of this. He can do anything. Where are His miracles?” Finally, Gideon concludes that the Lord has forsaken them. Because of the bad circumstances, because I’m not seeing any miracles, because I’m still oppressed, God has left me.
It is very important to see the big picture in this devotional. God is not locked into our present. He knows the past and sees the future. He is speaking into Gideon’s life concerning his destiny. Whatever you do, don’t get overwhelmed by your present circumstances. God speaks to us concerning our future, not our present. He told Gideon that the Lord was with him and that he was a mighty warrior. Gideon didn’t see it and he didn’t feel it. You may not see it and you may not feel it. Don’t go by that. Go on God’s word to you. God is with you and you are a mighty warrior!