Judges 6:12 – “And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”  NASB

In my over fifty years of Christian ministry I have encouraged people to become who and what God says they are not what they see themselves as being.  I am convinced that although we may have a sense in our hearts of what God wants for our lives, we often have difficulty seeing ourselves as that person.

In this Bible account, Gideon was an average man working in the family business and probably not expecting a visit from an angel of God.  The angel showed up and sat under a tree as Gideon was threshing wheat.  It would seem that the angel looked no different than other men and caused no particular stir in the heart or mind of Gideon.  Gideon was attempting to save the wheat from the marauding Midianites.  Had the angel appeared unusual, he would have been alerted to a potential threat and responded differently.  Instead, it seems that he kept working.

The angel made the declaration of our text.  He called Gideon a valiant warrior and informed him that God was with him.  The declaration that God was with him was not unusual for the Israelites but when the angel called him a valiant warrior that got Gideon’s attention.  However, Gideon appears to be challenging the declaration, “God is with you.” He offers what could be called a protest saying, “Yeah, right, God is with us.  If God is with us, then why are we having the problems we are having?”  He argued, “If God is with us, then where are the miracles and the demonstration of His power and deliverance?”  He even argued, “God has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 

It was here that the angel of God said, “Son, you are the deliverer of Israel. You are the valiant warrior God has chosen to bring about his deliverance.”  Gideon revealed his inability to see what God saw and in a measure his lack of faith and confidence in God.  He felt abandoned and certainly did not feel like a warrior, after all, he was having to hide to thresh the wheat. 

It was through a series of miracles and events that Gideon finally began to believe that he could be who God said he was and do what God said he could do.  Had Gideon continued looking at himself as he saw himself, he would never have become the deliverer of Israel.  Had David saw himself as a mere shepherd he would never have dared to face Goliath.  Had Joseph saw himself as a prisoner rather than believing that God would fulfill His promised he would have died a slave in Egypt.  Had, Peter continued in his despair of denying Jesus he would never have become the mighty apostle he became.

God says we are “overcomers” through Jesus.  He says, that we are “more than conquerors” through the victory of Jesus.  He says that we have “authority” over the “power of the devil.”  He says that we can “do all things” through Christ and that we are the “righteousness of God” in Jesus.  Therefore, we either begin to see ourselves as victors or we become victims.  As victims, we never dare to dream and never achieve the purposes of God for our lives.  As victors, we dare to dream and embrace the Word of God that We Can!

I suggest that God sees us differently than we see ourselves.   We see our flaws and deficiencies and He sees the finished product.  We see where we are in ourselves, He sees where we are in Jesus.  I contend that if Jesus’ victory was complete and he has truly defeated the devil and stripped him of power and authority in the earth then there is a realm we have not known awaiting us.  If Jesus has all authority and has given us that authority, then we are more than we think we are, in Him.  So, I ask, “Why Not Now?”  Why not have the victory He promised and be the people He says we are, More than Conquerors and Overcomers? 

God sees us through the finished work of Jesus, but we see ourselves in our own strength and ability struggling to become.  It is time that we shift from trying to becoming to being because it is not through our strength but His that we live and move and have being.  WE ARE OVERCOMERS!

God bless you as you enjoy this day in Jesus!