+DEV+ Promise of Potential

Date: February 22, 2011 11:29 PM
Topic: +DEV+ Promise of Potential

Promise of Potential

"When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior'" (Judges 6:12).
Scripture Focus: Judges 6:11-40

The angel addresses Gideon as "you mighty hero." We could not have foreseen that description because we first encounter Gideon (vs. 11) in the winepress, threshing wheat there to hide it from the Midianites. The angel then says to Gideon, "Go in this thy might and thou shall save Israel..." What "might" is this? you may well ask. Gideon has just complained that the Lord deserted Israel. Later we see he doesn't wholly trust God. He thinks God will kill him because he has seen the angel's face. He asks God to prove Himself with the fleece. Later (8:27) after his astounding feats against the Midianites, Gideon fails God and Israel by setting up an idol.

How does all of that add up to "great hero"? Well, like us, Gideon was flawed, but God was with him and God had sent him. This will make Gideon into a hero and be his strength. God provided him with new potential, and he became the hero of the many exploits we read about in Judges because the real hero, the Lord, was behind him all the way.

Insight: God sees, not who I am, but who He is going to make me. Do you trust His promise of your potential?