Devos for March 29th (By Jordan W.)

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior."  (Judges 6:12)

Gideon was not a brave man.  A mighty warrior he most certainly was not.  Bravery did not exactly run in his family and coming from the weakest tribe in Manasseh, Gideon was no exception.  He was the runt of the family and it should come as no surprise that the first mention of him in the Bible is of him hiding in a winepress from the dreaded Midianites, making a snack.  That is why what the Lord says to him is so puzzling.  A Mighty warrior?  More like a cowering weakling.  Nothing in his history suggests that he was ever "mighty" and he was certainly not a "warrior", so why not address him as the coward that he was?  It is because God does not see us as we are, but as we are supposed to be.

I imagine that Gideon was the scrawny kid that always got picked last for kickball.  The girls ignored him, the bullies terrorized him, and the rest of the world never even paid attention at all.  And, why would they, he was small and insignificant?  But, God did pay attention, and saw in him something that nobody else could.  After all, God has a certain fondness for the misfits of society.  Abraham was too old, Mary was too young, Noah had a drinking problem, and Moses was a murderer with a stuttering problem.  Really, Gideon the coward was perfect
I was at Starbucks one time when this kid walked in with one of those pink Statue of Liberty hairdos, various piercings, and a shirt with satanic symbols on it.  I remember thinking to myself, “that guy has no chance”.  That is when this thought first convicted me and convicted me hard, “God does not see people as they are, but as they are supposed to be”.  I immediately thought of the weakling, Gideon.  Nobody thought of him as a mighty warrior, that is, nobody except for God.  And a mighty warrior is exactly what he became when he went on to rout and destroy the fearsome Midianites.
It makes me think about all of us.  God sees in us what we cannot see in ourselves.  If we think for a moment that God has no purpose in our lives, we are utterly mistaken.  You might say, "But, there is nothing about me that God can use.  I am a sinner and have a lot of real problems".  It doesn't matter, because God doesn't see you as you are, He sees you as you are supposed to be.
Prayer:
"Lord, please help us to see ourselves as you see us.  Help us to see your purpose in our lives and be the followers that we are supposed to be."