SELF-CONTAINED
Judges 6:1-16

A man in the Bible identified himself as the least among his clan, and coming from the weakest clan. The man did not consider himself to be anybody. Above all, he dwelt among a group of people that had been suffering oppression from the enemy. His group of people was greatly impoverished because of continuous raids by the enemy. While the man continued to live in a self-contained box, “…The Angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.” (Judges 6:1) Gideon did  not know who he was, and he was in the process to continue hiding, just like his people. The Angel of the Lord that appeared to Gideon was on a mission that would allow Gideon to know who he was, and not what his environment called him to be. Often times, having dwelt too long in an environment, the environment will begin to define the dweller, instead of the dweller defining himself to the environment. Gideon had been where the people had been hiding in the caves and strongholds that were in the mountains. (Judges 15:2) The Angel of the Lord that appeared to Gideon, identified Gideon, “And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” (Judges 16:12) Having dwelt for a long time among the oppressed, the mighty man of valor could not see himself as a mighty man of valor, because he became a part of them and began to think like them. Despite all the testimonies of God, despite all that have been revealed through the pages of scripture, there are believers of the Word of God that continue to live and suffer like the believers of the word of the world. In the process of getting a self realization, the Angel of the Lord eventually spoke power into the life of Gideon, “Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” (Judges 16:14) The word that was released into Gideon’s life, could not sink into Gideon immediately because he had been in self-contained box for too long. Gideon wanted to questioned the validity of the word that came into his life, but the Lord assured him, “And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16) When He sends His own, He always backs His own up. With the current world order, victory is certain when there is boldness and character.
Prayer for today: My God and my Father, I ask for your deliverance that will bring me out of every self-contained box.