"And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.'"
Judges 6:12, ESV
The words we speak are elemental to experiencing God's best for us. Until we realise who we are in Christ, we will only miss out on greater opportunities that God has in store for us. God wants our lives to be history-making and culture-shaking, but we can't do it on our own and with what we have. We need what God has.
Gideon, of all people, knew what it was like to not have the power of God. Raised in a time where the people of God were abused and taken advantage, Gideon never saw himself as a conquerer. Until one day. As he was threshing wheat in a winepress, of all places, an angel of God appeared to him. Now there's something interesting that we should think about: God chose to send a messenger when Gideon was fearfully and embarrassingly hiding. Sometimes God has a knack of meeting us at our worst.
But when the angel spoke, he said something that shocked Gideon probably more than his very presence itself. He calls to Gideon, saying, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor." There are essentially two messages in this declaration the angel makes.
The Lord is with you
During the time Midianites invaded Israel plundering, killing and abusing, it seemed many things were apparent, except the presence of God. How could a loving God be with you when you're suffering so much?
Today many people face that question: "Lord, are you really there when I'm stuck in debt, failing in my career, flopping in ministry or losing hope in my family?" But the truth is that we have a God who is always with us, even in the darkest times.
O mighty man of valor
Here's a man who was too much of a coward to even work outside, and God calls him a mighty man of valor. We often think that because the outcome of our efforts is not what is expected or because circumstances drag us down that that affects our authority in Christ.
Because of who Jesus is and because we now walk in His identity and authority, our circumstances, failures or mistakes do not determine who we are. Only Jesus and the victory that has already been won does. Because of that, God looks at you and doesn't see sinful failures, but the glorious valor of His own Son, which was imputed upon us when we put our faith in Christ. It's not about who we are, but about who Jesus is through us.
