Judges 6

Who are you becoming

 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” ~ Judges 6:12

Have you ever felt completely unqualified for something you knew in your heart you were supposed to do. Not just unsure, but almost certain you were the wrong person. That tension between what you feel and what God is saying can feel uncomfortable, even confusing. It’s the place where excuses start forming and where you can begin to shrink back instead of step forward.

In today’s scripture reading, we find Gideon hiding in a winepress, trying to survive in a season of fear and oppression. Right there, in the middle of his hiding, God calls him something he clearly didn’t believe about himself, a mighty warrior. Not after he proved himself, not after he gained confidence, but right in the middle of his weakness.

That’s how God works. He speaks to who you are becoming, not just where you are right now.

Below are three truths that can help you recognize what God is doing in your life and how to respond when you feel unqualified.

1. God sees identity before you do

Gideon saw himself as the least, the weakest, the one who didn’t measure up. But God spoke directly to his identity, not his insecurity. God wasn’t confused about who Gideon was, Gideon was chosen and mighty.

When you hear God prompting you to step into something, pay attention to what He’s saying about you, not what you’re saying about yourself. If you feel led to speak up, serve, or lead, but your first thought is “I’m not good at that,” pause. Instead of agreeing with that thought, begin to say what God says. “God is with me. He will help me.” You may not feel like a “mighty warrior,” but obedience starts by agreeing with His perspective, not your fear.

2. God calls you in the middle of the process

Gideon wasn’t ready by human standards. He was hiding but that didn’t disqualify him, it was the exact place where God met him. God doesn’t wait for you to feel ready, He calls you and then walks with you as you grow into it.

You don’t have to have everything figured out before you say yes. Maybe God is prompting you to reach out to someone, take a step in ministry, or make a decision that feels bigger than you. Instead of waiting until you feel confident, take the next small step. If you feel led to encourage someone but you’re unsure what to say, send the text anyway. Trust that God will meet you in the action, not just in the planning.

3. God is patient with your questions, but He still calls you forward

Gideon asked for signs. More than once. He wrestled with doubt and needed reassurance, yet God, in His kindness, responded. But even with the reassurance, the expectation remained the same, Gideon still had to step out in faith.

It’s okay to bring your questions to God, but don’t stay stuck in them. If you find yourself hesitating, ask God for clarity, then move when He answers. For example, if you’re unsure about a decision, pray, listen, and then take a step based on what you know or found in His Word. Don’t let overthinking keep you from moving forward in obedience.

I’ve had moments where I felt that same internal resistance. One time, I felt prompted to reach out to someone I hadn’t spoken to in a while. Everything in me wanted to ignore it. I told myself it wasn’t a big deal, that I could do it later. But that nudge didn’t go away. When I finally responded and reached out, I found out they were going through something heavy and needed encouragement right then. What felt small to me was significant to God. If I had continued to push it off, I would have missed that moment and there would have been no encouragement shared.

Today I want to encourage you to remember that God sees more in you than you currently see in yourself. He is not waiting for you to become ready, He is inviting you to trust Him right now. Just like Gideon, you may feel hidden, unsure, or even resistant, but God’s call on your life is still active. When He speaks, it’s not based on your limitations, it’s based on His purpose. Say yes in the small moments. Take the next step. Trust that He is with you, and that is more than enough.

Today’s scripture reading: Judges 6

1 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. So, the Lord delivered them into the hand of Midian for seven years, 

2 and the hand of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of the Midianites, the children of Israel made for themselves the dens, the caves, and the strongholds which are in the mountains. 

3 So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. 

4 Then they would encamp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. 

5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it. 

6 So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

7 And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the Lord because of the Midianites, 

8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; 

9 and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. 

10 Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

Gideon

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 

12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

13 Gideon 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.”

14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. 

18 Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.”

And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

19 So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. 

20 The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

21 Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.

22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.”

23 Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” 

24 So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 

26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 

27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal

28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 

29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 

30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”

31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” 

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”

33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 

34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 

35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 

37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 

38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 

39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 

40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Journal:

• What has God been prompting me to do that I’ve been hesitant to respond to
• What thoughts or excuses do I tend to believe when I feel unqualified
• What would it look like for me to take one small step of obedience today
• Where have I seen God meet me after I chose to step out in faith