Sep 2, 2017
This is episode four in our series on the book of Judges and covers chapters 5 and 6. This episode deals with an unlikely hero named Gideon. That’s why I’ve given this episode the title: “The Reluctant Rescuer.” We’re going to find out that Gideon was hand-picked by God, not because he had a lot to offer or had proven himself a well-qualified leader, but because God wanted to reveal His power through Gideon’s weakness and doubt. Gideon was a worrier. He was a fearful man who showed no signs of desiring to be a great leader for God. He would have preferred to have remained in the shadows, living his life in relative obscurity and letting the world go on without him. But that wasn’t going to be his lot in life. He got a call from God. But he didn’t exactly respond to God’s call with enthusiasm. He had his doubts. He even demanded that God give him proof. And God graciously did. But the issue Gideon was going to have to come to grips with was his own inadequacy and God’s power. God wasn’t choosing Gideon because of what he brought to the table, but because God wanted to reveal His power through Gideon’s weakness. God chose Gideon, not because He needed him, but because God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary. He uses the weak so that He can display His power through them. As the apostle Paul so aptly reminds us: “God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29 NLT).