The Lord is with you.
—Judges 6:12
God’s angelic messenger notified Gideon that he was God’s instrument to save Israel, calling him a “mighty man of valor!” The description seems dubious, for at that moment Gideon was hiding underground from the Midianite raiders, appearing neither mighty nor valorous.
Nor did Gideon consider himself to be such a man. He felt inadequate: “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
Admit it: we are inadequate. Until we stop trusting in ourselves and begin trusting God, he can’t do much with us.
You can read the entire story of how God used Gideon to defeat the Midianite multitude in Judges chapters 6 and 7.
And God can work in and through you, too, you mighty person of valor.
You are inadequate.
But God working through you isn’t.