Mighty Men of Valor
Our first response might be “Who me? You’ve got the wrong guy!” Well, we would not be alone if we were to ask that same question. That was what Gideon, a biblical character in the Old Testament, said when he was confronted by an angel who referred to him as a “mighty man of valor”.
You see Gideon, his whole family and the entire nation of
Israel for that matter, were in hiding. The bad guys in this story are the Midianites, a very powerful people with a great army who dominated the Israelites. Every year, especially during the harvest season, the Midianites would descend on them, steal everything they could carry and trample underfoot everything else, leaving nothing for God’s people.
Gideon and his family were hiding out in the mountains trying to avoid detection. They wanted nothing to do with the bad guys. They had given up trying to resist their enemy. They were being bullied and there was nothing they could do to change things.
When the angel came to Gideon he was threshing a few stalks of wheat in a wine press hoping he wouldn’t be discovered. He didn’t think very highly of himself. As a matter of fact, he felt like a coward who could no longer protect his family until the angel of Lord came to him saying, “Gideon, thou mighty man of valor. You are going to be the one to deliver your people from the Midianites”.
The Bible tells us about the conversation that followed. In the 6th chapter of the book of Judges we learn that Gideon told the angel, “You’ve got the wrong guy! Me? I can’t deliver anyone from anything.” He went on to explain that his family was the smallest, poorest tribe in all of
Israel and that he was the smallest and weakest kid of his family.
Those of you who know the rest of the story know that God was faithful to his promise and Gideon was responsible for a great victory over the Midianites.
The truth of this story is a great one. You may feel small and insignificant. There may be things in your life now or in your past that you feel disqualify you from being a mighty man of valor. I think we have all felt that way but if we put our trust in God and give our life completely to Jesus Christ, He can accomplish things through us that we would never have believed possible. So don’t give up on yourself or God no matter how bad things seem. God loves you and he will give you the strength to face even the greatest enemies in your life.
If you have questions or just want to talk please feel free to call. In God’s eyes you are a MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR!
Pastor Paul
