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One lazy man said this about work: “Work never bothers me. I can watch people work all day as long as I don’t have to do it.” That was not Gideon’s problem. We read about him in Judges 6. He was working but frustrated. He was upset because he had to hide his work. Gideon was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress–hiding it from the Midianites. Otherwise, the Midianites would seize the wheat and everything else the people produced. One day an angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!” Gideon’s response was, “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The LORD brought us up out of Egypt? But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” The LORD told, ‘Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ Surprised, Gideon said, “How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh and I am the least in my family.” The LORD replied, “I will be with you.” When God calls us to do a task, we certainly need a clearly stated purpose, a plan, people to help, resources, and passion. But most of all, we need God’s presence to help us succeed.
