One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!”

13 Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all the miracle-wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.”

14 But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?”

15 Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.”

16 God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.” (The Message)

God knows who you really are, and who you can be, and what you can do, because of Him. He only has to be with you, and you have a strength you never realised (14). Jesus meets Simon. the reed, and knows He will make him into Peter, the rock.

‘Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” ‘ (1 Cor.1:26-27)

I think it may have been Hudson Taylor who referred to himself as ‘a man small enough for God to use.’ I like that!

It’s not who we are (or who we are in our own eyes) but who God is that matters. He makes the difference.

‘Gideon was an unlikely candidate for God’s ”Hall of Fame” (Heb.11:32). When God called him, he was hiding. When God spoke to him, he raised problems instead of trusting promises. One of his favourite words was if (vv.13,17, 36; Mark 9:22-23). When Gideon did start to obey God, he worked at night (v.27) and had to have repeated assurance that the Lord was with him. But God saw the potential in Gideon and even called him a ”mighty man of valour” (v.12). God sees the potential in you and says to you as He did to Simon, ”You are…You shall be” (John 1:42).’ Warren W. Wiersbe