equipping

We all have our favorite Bible stories. One of my top ones is the story of Gideon, which I read again this morning in Judges 6 through 8. I love this story because it has so many interesting plot twists, and because it reveals so much about how God saves.

One of those fascinating twists happens early in the story, in Judges 6:11-12 “The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.’”

Israel needs a savior, and the angel of the Lord goes to one of the youngest sons of one of the smallest families of one of the least tribes in all of Israel. This is a man who’s already given up – just look at what he says to the angel in the following verses. That’s why he’s doing a lousy job of threshing his wheat, not in an airy high place where the wind will get rid of the chaff, but in a low hole in the ground where he can hide. Right then, hiding was more important that making the most of his crop. Gideon thinks God no longer acts on behalf of Israel, and he doesn’t think he can do anything about it.

Eventually, though, with just 300 men Gideon defeats the Mideanites who have oppressed Israel for years. Actually, Gideon and his 300 men stand safely on the ridgeline and watch God run the hordes of invaders out of the country. By the end of Judges 8, Gideon is the respected ruler of his people, and dies an old man after a long and good life.

Here’s what always impresses me: Hiding in that hole, threshing his wheat, Gideon was as far from a mighty warrior as you could imagine, but still the angel named him as one. Israel needed a mighty warrior, God called a very unlikely candidate to the job, and then God made Gideon into exactly what he and Israel needed.

That’s what we Christians, with our insider lingo, call “equipping.” One of the great reassurances I find in Gideon’s story is that when God calls me, he equips me to do anything I need to do. I might see all the reasons I shouldn’t be the one, but if God invites me to join him in his work, he already plans to give me everything I will need to successfully do my part.

I love that process of calling and then equipping, because the way it works itself out in this world is that most of the time God saves us from our troubles by sending us rescuers that are, well, us. That’s what the church is all about. That’s what missions and service are all about. It’s all just a bunch of average Joes and Janes with all our weaknesses and inconsistency faithfully trying to do what God expects. And when we do that, look at what we accomplish: wounded hearts are healed, enslaved sinners are freed, hungry mouths and souls are fed, evil is defeated. Every day the church remains faithful in this world, wonderful things happen. Because God equips those he calls, and he calls his church every day.

It shames me for all the times God has shown me where he is working and I have declined that invitation to join him. It shames me for all the times one of those wounded hearts or enslaved sinners or hungry souls has crossed my path and I let them go.

But mostly, it inspires me to watch carefully for those people and invitations and then jump excitedly into the adventure that following God truly is. The opportunities are everywhere, and story of Gideon promises that the equipping will be just as abundant.