Learn From Gideon, 10

~ God Uses Weak Things To Accomplish Big Things ~

The Biblical account of the life of Gideon provides for one of the most interesting character studies in all of Scripture.  In this series we will discover practical lessons for living the Christian life today.  

Scripture  ~  “So Gideon 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” (Judges 6:15).

Learn From Gideon  ~  God uses the weak to confound the strong!

1. In God’s economy the weaker you are the more God can use you.  “Therefore I [Paul] take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
2. “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (1 Corinthians 1:26).  A former queen of England once remarked that she was so thankful for the “m” in that verse (that it did not say “not any noble”).    
3. This counteracts pride (a component of all sin) and promotes humility.  “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.  But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—that, as it is written, ‘He who glories, let him glory in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
4. The way up is down.  “But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, ‘You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.  And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many’” (Mark 10:42-45).
5. God on your side is all you need to be effective for Him.  But God cannot use you until you realize your helplessness apart from Him.  The Apostle Paul had every reason to brag but he learned humility (1 Timothy 1:15) and then God used Him. 

concluding comment  ~  We learn about Gideon primarily from Judges 6-8, but also Isaiah 9:1-7, and Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-34.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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