Ordinary People. Extraordinary God.

Apr - 19 2018 | By

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

In the Book of Judges, we see the story of Gideon. Gideon was an ordinary man from the tribe of Benjamin, the least of the tribes of Israel. Things were not looking good for the Israelites in the promised Land. It had been 200 years since Joshua led them over the Jordan into the land that God promised them. God had told them to utterly destroy the idolatrous and wicked peoples of the land. The Jebusites, The Hivites, the Ammonites and the Midianites. God led the Israelites into battle and blessed them and they prevailed over these peoples however they did not destroy them completely as God had said, but had allowed them to live among them.  Now 200 years later, the Midianites had the upper hand and were ruling over the people of Israel.

Gideon was hiding from the Midianites at a winepress in a cave, threshing a little bit of wheat to feed his household when an Angel of the Lord came to him and said… “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon must have looked around and said… ”Who, me?” He certainly didn’t feel like a mighty man at that moment. But so it was that Gideon believed the Word of the Lord and by God’s Hand, was able to mobilize 3000 men of Benjamin to rise up against the Midianites. In the end, God told Gideon to take only 300 men and they still defeated the vast Midianite army. God put fear into the hearts of Gideon’s enemies and so once again God’s people were saved out of captivity. Gideon is even mentioned in the Apostle Paul’s “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11 as one of the Bible’s great faith heroes.

Why? Because Gideon took God’s Word by faith that he was a mighty man of valor and did not believe the reality of his situation or his own fear over God’s Word. God’s Word says that if we believe and follow Jesus as Lord, that the things He did in His ministry, we would do also. We are ordinary people, called by an extraordinary God to do extraordinary things for His Glory. As I have heard it said, “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called”.

Beloved, God’s Word says “Be of good courage and I will strengthen your heart all you who hope in Me”.  When we choose to be of good courage, and walk with the faith that we have, believing His Word and not our own mind, God then is able to strengthen us so that we can do all things, over and above anything we can imagine. Above all, we will learn to trust Him because He is faithful and we have chosen to believe His Word. We can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us.

Blessings abundant,

John Henry

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