Handicapped Community Fellowship

Reaching the handicapped persons in Kenya with the love of God.

Judges chapter 6-This story occurs at a time when the Israelite’s leader Joshua had died. Another generation that knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel was living in Israel.(CH 2: 10-12). This generation was rebellious and worshipped foreign gods. You can read more about that in chapters 2 to 6 of Judges.
Chapter 6 is going to be our focus today. In this chapter, Israel is continuing with it’s rebellion and the Lord hands them over to the Midianites whose power was mighty against the Israelites. The Israelites suffered a great deal under the Midianites who could destroy their crops and leave them with no sustenance. Even their livestock would be destroyed. In the midst of their rebellion however, the Israelites cried out to God.

The Lord responds by sending an angel to speak with Gideon and calls him a mighty warrior. Gideon, of course as man, begins to give excuses. He does not feel like he deserves the title.

I guess we can empathize with that!

Have you ever been complimented and you find yourself giving reasons why you do not deserve the compliment? Many sisters would identify with this .A compliment like “you are smart” is met by answers like “I bought it at a second hand market for so much! Maybe you should have just said "thank you"

Back to judges Chapter 6…
In verse 13 Gideon questions God and asks why they had been through such calamity if God had been on their side. Interestingly God does not respond to his questions but instead tells him to go in the strength he had and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. He assures Gideon of His presence. Gideon has identity crisis. He continues to tell God why he did not qualify for the job. He considered his clan to be the weakest and he was the least in his family. Gideon was not aware of any strength in him. He was used to focusing on his weaknesses. He only saw limitations. He was even found hiding in a winepress because he feared the Midianites. He is speaking to the Almighty and still using the same yardstick from his past.

Perhaps you feel like Gideon hiding from God and from other people. You feel like the least of the least. You feel like you cannot serve God because of the limitations you have. You are stagnant in your life because of something that happened to you when you were young. You may have a physical disability, or you failed your exams and were branded “failure”, you may be the only person in your family without a university degree. You may feel like your gifts are not many and your talents few.

As we have seen in the story of Gideon, God does not take time to address Gideon’s insecurities. He does not give him a sermon on how to make his clan great or how to become great in his family. This to me is significant. I believe that in God’s sight all of us are valuable and have the capacity to be the best in accomplishing the purpose of God.
God sees beyond your issues. He is capable of changing your circumstances instantly but does not always do that. Your circumstances may not change but God is able to help you change the way you view them. I encourage you with the words of Paul in 1corr1;26-29 which say “Brothers ,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. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things –and the things that are not to nullify the things that are- so that no one may boast before Him.” God can use you just as you are!

Gideon’s story continues to show us how God uses weak things to confound the strong. In chapter 7 of the same book of judges, we see Gideon gathering his troops to go and fight the midianittes. He gathers 32,000 men in his army. The Lord in verse 2 tells him, “you have too many men for ME to deliver Midian into their hand. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her”. What was crucial for Gideon and the troops was to show up. Their strength and numbers did not seem to matter to God. God has many times in scripture emphasized that our victory is not by our might or our power but by His intervention. This is great encouragement for those of us that feel insignificant and incapable of doing exploits for God. Gideon began by describing himself by his weaknesses. He called himself the least in his family and his clan was weakest in Manasseh. He was at that point hiding as he threshed wheat. He had assessed himself through the veil of his socialization and his belief system and had found himself below average.
In chapter 7 God asks Gideon to sift the army. Twenty two thousand left and he was left with 10,000.God still tells Gideon to sift further and he is eventually left with 300 men. In verse 12 of the same chapter we are told that the enemy army had so many troops that could not be numbered. The Lord does not leave Gideon to worry about how 300 men would win against numberless people. He gives him a strategy for the battle. This again is great encouragement! Just to Know that God gives roadmaps when He sends you should be enough reason for us to want to be involved with Him. He will never leave you no forsake you. Weak as you feel, He will strengthen you. He will equip you with what you need for the journey or battle if you allow Him to.
God is an expert in using the most unlikely candidates.

1. He took Sarah from the retirement scheme to birth a new nation.
2. He picked the stammerer and killer Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. Moses was born at a time when pharaoh had issued a decree that all Israelite children should be killed at birth. Moses was saved by Egyptian midwives. He was later put in a basket and turned up at pharaohs palace when his daughter picked him from the river
3. Paul a persecutor of the church became an apostle and writes most of the New Testament.
4. Jacob always referred to as a liar became the father of the Israelite Nation.
5. Joseph a slave saved his family
6. David a shepherded boy became Israel’s greatest king. Killed goliath
7. Mary a peasant girl became the mother of Jesus.

I have looked at Jesus line up and it just continues to prove that God can use anyone of us. If I was God for one second, and thank God am not, and I was to choose a winning team for Jesus, I would go for the very best.

1. For a strong economic base I would seek a person with a degree from the best university in the world, maybe Harvard.
2. For my strategy team I would require a minimum qualification to be a Nobel prize.
3. For public relations I would get the very best
4. I would also get a tough manager, maybe with a military background or a CEO from a multinational company.

This is not how God operates. We have seen him transform a man who was found hiding and who had branded himself as least of the least to an army commander. He led 300 men against a great army and won the battle. God can and will do the same for you if you surrender your circumstance to him.

Before Gideon set out for battle he asked God for a sign and God in His faithfulness proved showed him the sign. Through these signs he was able to realize who he had been talking to and he said “I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face” Vs. 22.

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