Judges 6:12-16
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

Gideon asks, “Where be all his miracles?” Surely he knew the stories passed down through Israel of what God had done for them in Egypt—the plagues and the judgments on Egypt, the great deliverance through the Red Sea, even His provision during their time wandering in the wilderness. But Israel was even now greatly oppressed. Their situation seemed so dire, and it may have seemed like God was nowhere to be found, that there could be no miracle to save them in their current situation.

But Israel had forsaken God. Gideon’s own father had an altar to Baal set up. It seemed they only cared for God when they got desperate and into some troublesome situation, and they wanted His help without devoting their lives and their hearts to Him. So God had withheld His hand from Israel, but now Gideon would be the miracle. Now Gideon, empowered and enabled by God, would be the deliverer of his people. Now Gideon, however reluctant he may have seemed at first, would lead a charge against an overwhelming enemy and come out victorious.

Sometimes we are the miracle—or at least the avenue through which God will work to bring about something impossible. Gideon was nothing, as he says, of a poor family, the least of his own house. But God uses the weak, the humble, the small, the least, for then He can work mightily and get the glory. May we, too, be willing to allow God to use us, no matter our position or status, no matter our weaknesses and shortcomings, and watch Him do great things when we step out by faith.