Who does God say you are...?

            In Judges 6:12-16 God speaks to Gideon and assures him of HIs presence, of the fact that He had not forsaken them, the Israelites. Yet, all Gideon could see was how the Midianites were destroying and oppressing them.
            In the midst of a trial, it can be very difficult to see God. All you see is the problem, that thing or person that is oppressing you. God seems so far away and, like Gideon, you wonder why God who delivered in the past is not delivering you now. The Israelites in the wilderness also constantly forgot God's ability to deliver whenever they faced a challenge. They could not understand either why God did not stop it from happening in the first place. And so, Gideon questioned God's deliverance because he was so focused on the problem he could not even see God in it. Sadly, he could not see either that they had brought this on themselves not God. If they had remained faithful they would have been safe. Yet, God was giving them a chance. They were still His people, that had not changed and He was there for them.
              As God's children, He is going to be with us no matter what, even when we mess up.  Because of His covenant with us, He will always strive to keep His end of the bargain. And so God had to assure Gideon that He was still their God, and He was there for them and He was going to help them. Next, He had to change Gideon's opinion of himself. He called him: "mighty warrior." Gideon may not have seen himself like that but God did because He had a job for him to do.
         Sometimes, we just need the right person to come and speak the right word over and into us to prepare us for what God has for us to do. Sometimes we need the right person to look beyond our weakness, our limitations and to see the potential God has placed in us and to speak it forth, thus propelling us into action.