When Weakness Meets God's Purpose

 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28

The story of Gideon in the book of Judges is one of the many ways God uses our weaknesses as a platform to display His power as He brings out the good in situations that seem bad and desperate. Chapter six of the book of Judges introduces us to Gideon at a time when the Midianites occasionally invaded the land of the Israelites and ravaged it.  

An angel of the LORD came and found Gideon hiding from the Midianites as he was threshing wheat in a winepress. The Angel of the LORD said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, mighty warrior’ – Judges 6:12. It is interesting that at such a time when Gideon felt weak, afraid and oppressed by the Midianites, the angel of the LORD referred to him as, ‘mighty warrior.’

Sometimes, when we are experiencing difficult moments in life, it is easy to listen to the voice of the enemy. The enemy will take advantage of the situation and call you names like weak, defeated, not enough, a failure, or unworthy. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves answering to the voices of the enemy and agreeing with them. The names that the enemy calls us by during our challenging times are not part of our DNA.

Like Gideon, we may be in a difficult situation for far too long that we begin to accept it as part of our new normal. We tend to believe that we’ll never overcome the trials or challenges or that God has already abandoned us, and begin to wonder where God is in such a difficult season in life. The enemy may want you to continue seeing yourself as defeated and abandoned, but that doesn’t change what God sees in you.

You may see yourself as weak, but God sees a mighty warrior inside of you; you may see yourself as a failure, but God sees an achiever in you. God called Gideon by his true identity, ‘mighty warrior.’ It doesn’t matter how many names the enemy tries to stick on you; what matters is your true identity, which God calls you by.

God had a purpose for Gideon in play even when he thought that God had already forgotten about him. Like Gideon, we may not always see what God is working on or know what His plans are, but we can always be sure of this: God is behind the scenes working and weaving all things together (our shortcomings) for the ultimate good.  

In our difficult moments, more of what should come out of our mouths is, ‘Lord, I trust you.’ Or ‘Lord, I don’t even know what’s happening in my life, or how I can get out of this situation, but I trust in your plans’

Paul writes in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” As bad as the Israelites' situation was at the time, God used the opportunity to raise a leader in Israel who would deliver them from the hands of the Midianites. This encourages us that even in failure or hardships, God can still use our shortcomings for the greater good when we choose to trust in His plans.

To Gideon, his situation seemed hopeless; however, God turned it around and made his story a redemptive one.

Our lives are a work in progress; we may not understand it at the moment because we are seeing things from a narrow perspective, but God sees the bigger picture of our lives. Romans 8:28 is an assurance to believers that even when things aren’t okay, God is still in control. Nothing that happens to us is a surprise to God. If He allowed it is because He has something better and greater coming. So often, our place of suffering, hardship and weakness, God uses it as a platform to display His power. All that is left for us is to surrender to God’s plans; He knows better, hold on.