Bible reading: Judges 6-7
“Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”” (Judges 6:14-16)
Following God’s will is a journey of faith, and often times God may ask us to do things we feel unqualified for. There are several examples in the Bible of seemingly unqualified people doing great things for God. One of my favourite stories is that of Gideon. During his time, the Israelites faced severe opposition and starvation at the hands of their enemy, the Midianites. Despite being the least important person in his family, God chose Gideon to rescue Israel.
Although Gideon was initially sceptical, he followed God and obeyed all His instructions, no matter how challenging. As a result, He defeated the Midianites. By worldly standards, it didn’t make sense for God to choose Gideon, and we may also wonder why God has chosen us to fulfill His specific will for our lives. If we always try to make sense of God’s instructions, we will often find that they challenge and oppose our own logic and wisdom.
However, we must remember that God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). So it’s natural that His instructions do not always have to make sense to us initially. One of the reasons why obedience can be challenging is that it requires faith in God’s ability over our own. This can be particularly difficult for those who like to be in control of their lives. So when you feel intimidated by God’s instruction, pray for courage and faith and be encouraged by the lives of others in the Bible who have had to step out of their comfort zones to obey God, such as Moses.
We must never forget that our greatest achievement may be on the other side of our obedience to God!
