I Am the Least

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Judges 6:14-16 "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?' '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.' The LORD answered, 'I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.'"

Think

Somebody asks you to do something for God and the list starts before they finish the sentence.

I am not outgoing. I do not know enough of the Bible. I am not a leader. Nobody would listen to me. Somebody else should be the one to invite them, somebody who is better at this, somebody they actually respect.

The list is fast. It is detailed. And it feels like humility, which is what makes it so hard to argue with. Most of the time it is not humility. It is fear wearing humility's clothes.

Gideon has that exact list and he says it out loud in verse 15.

God has just told him to go rescue an entire country from an occupying army. Gideon does not ask a strategy question. He hands God a résumé. "My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."

Notice he goes two levels deep. My whole family is nothing in this tribe, and inside that family, I am the bottom. He is the least impressive person in the least impressive household. He is not fishing for a compliment. As far as he can tell, he is stating a fact.

And here is what God does not do. He does not argue with the list.

He never says Gideon, you are selling yourself short, you have so much potential. There is no pep talk. He does not correct a single item on the résumé, which is worth sitting with, because it means the résumé was probably accurate.

Look at what he says instead. "I will be with you."

That is the whole answer. Gideon says I am not enough, and God does not respond by insisting he is enough. God responds by changing what the equation contains.

Try to carry a couch by yourself and it is not hard, it is impossible. Get one person on the other end and the couch does not get any lighter, but the sentence "we are moving this couch" becomes true. Nothing about you changed. What changed is who else is holding it.

This is where a lot of students get stuck, because the version of confidence we get handed is believe in yourself. And the honest problem with believe in yourself is that some days you have very good evidence against yourself. Gideon did. His evidence was real.

What God offers is not better self-esteem. It is his presence, which is a much sturdier thing to stand on than your own opinion of yourself on a Friday morning or afternoon.

Then look at the size of what God says next, immediately after Gideon calls himself the least. He tells him he will strike down all the Midianites. All of them. God did not shrink the assignment to match Gideon's confidence level. The job stayed enormous. Only the company changed.

Your weakness does not disqualify you. It creates room for God's strength.

So the question in front of you is not whether you are enough. You already know your answer to that, and so does God, and he called you anyway.

What is one thing you have said no to recently where the real reason was the list?

Apply

Say yes to the thing on the list – Name one specific thing you have avoided because you decided you were not the right person for it. Take one step toward it this week. Send the text, ask the leader, sign up, or just show up. One step, this week.

Pray

God, I have a whole list of reasons I am not the one, and most of it is true. I am not asking you to tell me I am impressive. I am asking you to be with me. Give me the courage to walk into something I feel underqualified for because you said you would be there. In Jesus' name. Amen.