Ever feel like you don’t fit, or that you aren’t qualified to be in a role or situation (be it at work, at home or within the church) - kind of like being an imposter who is bluffing their way through it all?
Our self-confidence always impacts on our ability to engage in a situation. The crazy thing about self-confidence is that the level of what we view ourselves as, and our place in the world is not always reflected by the effort, nor the impact we have within our workplace, our families and our community. Sometimes, we can have low-self-confidence and still do an amazing job - other times, we can be full of self-confidence and put in a sub-par effort. The visa-versa is also true.
The problem with our self-confidence is two-fold.
A) It is based on our emotions, which are never stable.
B) Our perceptions of ourselves are always faulty and innaccurate.
The level of confidence we have of ourselves is always due to how we “feel” about ourselves. If there is a level of self-loathing, or belittling of ourselves then we tend to downplay our abilities and knowledge. If there is an unhealthy level of pride in oneself, then we tend to overplay our abilities and knowledge. Both these perspectives are both psychologically and spiritually wrong.
We should see ourselves through the lens and mirror of how God/Jesus us.
The Apostle Paul provides us with that mirror, when he quotes from the Old testament, namely 2 Samuel 7 by stating that, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18)
And in Genesis 1:27 it informs us that, “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
So, if we are not looking at ourselves from that perspective, we are selling ourselves short - even if we understand that we have fallen short of God’s righteousness (Romans 3:23) and that our righteousness is like dirtied rags (Isaiah 64:6).
So, the question is “How do we engage with how God views us?”.
One great example of God placing more value on a person than they saw in themselves was that of Gideon, one of the judges during the Old Testament period before the kings of Israel. The story of Gideon can be found in the book of Judges, chapters 6 through to 8.
The context of the story of Gideon is that it takes place during the era of the ‘Judges’ prior to the reign of the various kings of Israel/Judah. There is no singular ruler of Israel, just people (both men and women) who God uses to direct, lead, protefct and judge the Hebrew people.
We are going to look deeply into sections of Chapter 6 and see the relationship between our environment and our perceptions of ourselves, and how God often ignores what we think of ourselves to use us in mighty ways.
Verses 1-6: “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.”
In these introductory verses of Judges 6, we see the context of the environment that Gideon is living in and is going to directly involved in impacting.
God always used other nations to bring about punishment and HIS wrath on the Israel when they were sinning and following the false gods of other nations. This pattern repeated itself throughout all of history, and even plays out today in the rise and fall of nations and empires we see today. If a nation turns its back on God and HIS righteous ways, then they too will be taken over and dominated by another nation.
So, for seven years we see the Midianites (and other nations/groups from the east) ravaging the land of Israel. They took or destroyed everything in their wake.
As a result the people of Israel were not just dominated by these groups, but were brought down to a place of utter poverty, where they couldn’t even grow crops or raise livestock without it being destroyed or stolen.
And they had to resort to living in caves and fortified towns/vilalges to protect themselves from the invaders.
Verses 7-10: “When the Israelites cried out to the Lord because of Midian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians. And I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
The biggest re-occuring problem that the Israelites had was turning away from God (Yahweh) and worshipping other gods.
In these verses we see that despite their sin and their idolatry, the Israelites know who their real god is - Yahweh - and they turn back to HIM for salvation from their enemies. This is a good thing, but it doesn’t absolve them of their disobedience.
Because of their disobedience God sends a prophet to remind the people of Israel what God had already done for them as a nation, and that they had turned their back on all that many times over - which was why they were being dominated by other nations.
Perhaps we need to look at this in our own lives, and the lives of our families. How often do we plead for God to help us in a messy situation that we created for ourselves and for others? Are we treating God as that lifesaver who we only want when we are in trouble - or we in relationship with HIM?
Now we see where Gideon fits in, and perhaps why his perception of himself was so low.
Verses 11-12: “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrahthat belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
The angel of the Lord title often refers to a pre-incarnate Jesus. The way to tell between it being the pre-incarnate Jesus and an angel as a messenger from the Lord is quite easy - does the ‘angel’ allow worship of them or not? If the answer is yes, then it is the pre-incarnate Jesus, if no, then it is your angelic messenger.
So, with that in mind we can see from following verses in Judges 6 that the “Angel of the Lord” allows Gideon to worship HIM through sacrificial means.
Now we have ‘Jesus’ speaking personally to Gideon and providing Gideon with a differing perspective of who he is, and what he can achieve. Jesus calls Gideon “Mighty Warrior”. Here Gideon is hiding in a winepress trying to seperate wheat so that his family could make flour and bread with it - so that they could have something to eat. And he is having to do so whilst hiding from raiders and people out to harm him. It is not a picture of a warrior at all.
Yet, Gideon is presented with not just the current truth of his nature/character, but also his future character and nature - he does indeed become the warrior Jesus referes to him as.
Sometimes - if not all the time - God is trying to present to us who we are, and it often takes us a long time to figure it out and to be that person.
Verse 13: “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
Gideon’s response is one that most of us would give if Jesus was speaking to us in this way. We would ask, where have you been? Why haven’t you been helping us in this time?
Sometimes it seems as if we go from a time where God rescues us or removes struggle from our life, to another period of struggle - often with very little time in between those troubling times.
The Lord’s (Jesus) response to Gideon’s statement is both profound and curiously devoid of any judgement or condemnation.
Verse 14: “The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
In the LORD’s reply there is absolutely no judgement from HIM on Gideon’s statement. There is no response which demeans his position, nor is there any condemnation of it.
The LORD simply replies in a loving but authoritative way - “It’s all good Gideon, you can do this. Just believe me and go save your people. Aren’t I (God) sending you to do this?”
We can expect such a response when we look at our circumstances and state it as we see it - the reason the LORD was so gracious to Gideon (and to us) in this type of situation is that HE knows we cannot see the big picture, nor can we see the eternal picture - but HE can. And so HE doesn’t condemn us for our short-sightedness, becuase HE knows that we are fallible and weak people.
Verse 15: “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Now Gideon’s reply is one that we should all be familiar with, because it is one that we would offer up to God in a heartbeat (or have already done so) if the same was asked of us.
It shows the utter hopelessness Gideon felt, and how his own self-perception was totally based on his environment and circumstances. Gideon was like “Ah yeah God, nah that ain’t happening. I’m just some dude - and I don’t come from much. Maybe go find some high achieving guy who is well connected - I’m sure he’ll do the job just fine!”
It is a response that shows a man who is humble enough to know that he “isn’t all that” - but that humility is also buried under piles of self-loathing and poor self-esteem.
It is interesting that it seems to be these sorts of people that God uses the most. He doesn’t often go for the highly confident, well equipped “go-getters” - instead HE uses the poor and meek in spirit, who by being used for great things shows the power, authorirty and grace of God.
Verse 16: “The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
The LORD’s repsonse is clear and definative - yet is allows Gideon to make a choice.
Gideon must choose to either A) deny what God himself has said to hima nd about him, or B) accept what God has said and be obedient to HIS instructions.
This is a choice that we too face during our lives (and often multiple times).
But the important things that Gideon (and we) needed to take note of is that God said “I will be with you!” This calls to memory the verse that states “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) - this statement of Paul is truer than ever - and one that we must take to heart and fully believe.
Verses 17-18: “Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
It is interesting that Gideon knew that he wasn’t communicating with just some ordinary messenger angel, but that he was infact communicating with the LORD HIMSELF. So, his first thing that he wanted to do was to worship HIM, by bringing about an offering.
The following verses tell of how Gideon brings about an offering for the LORD who physically manefests in a different way.
In these modern times, our lives are the ‘living sacrifice’ (seen in Romans 12, and in 1 Peter 2) - when we lay ourselves, our desires, our dreams, our wants at the feet of Jesus and say my life is yours - then the real presence of God manifests in our lives and we can go about and do great things.
In the end Gideon followed the instructions of the LORD and tore down the idols, and places of idol worship in the land - then he proceeded to destroy an army of the enemy - all with the LORD’s help.
We can do the same in our own circumstances and situations.
John 15:5,8 tells us that, “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” - Gideon was only able to do what he did because he was obedient and because he turned the worship of the people back to Yahweh. So, the people of Israel were once again in relationship with and connected to Yahweh. Today, we must do the same with Jesus - we need to set aside our cultural idols (wealth, lifestyle, material things, reputation, sports, leisure, entertainment) and return to a right relationship with Jesus - who, as is told in Hebrew 13:8 is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is in that connection that we too can do great things for the Kingdom of God.
I pray that even in the face of great adversity, trouble and struggle that you accept who you are in Jesus Christ - see yourself from HIS eyes and not through your own emotional lens, or through the lens of your past (good or bad). May you find fulness and impact for the Kingdom of God as you are obedient to HIM and HIS will for your life. Be prepared to lay aside the things of this world that hold you back.