And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
– Judges 6:15
What a great verse from Gideon, as God is calling Gideon to lead his people into battle and to deliver them from the hands of the Midianites. And when God calls Gideon, he says, “How can I do this? My clan…” And he starts to list all the reasons why he’s not qualified. My clans the weakest in Manasseh. And as if that wasn’t enough, I’m the least in my father’s house. Why are you calling me to do this?
Throughout the Scriptures, God chooses the unlikeliest of people to serve in a mighty way.
God’s Grace for the Unlikeliest People
And this is the beauty of God’s grace that we see all over the Bible. God chooses the unlikeliest of people. One, for his family. You think about the disciples, these men were not the most well-educated men. They were not the smartest. They were not the most influential and they were not the wealthiest. Many, many different reasons why you would not choose this group of men, and yet Jesus called them by name, drew them to himself, and used this small group of unlikely, uneducated… I was just in Acts, Chapter Four… Unschooled, ordinary men to literally turn the world upside down, to alter the course of human history, through this small group. And he’s done it all throughout the Bible.
You think about Deuteronomy, where God kept saying to his people, “I’ve set my affection on you not because you are great…” And you are this, or you’re that. “I’ve set my affection on you despite the fact that you are not these things.” And you think about this in your own life… Not one of us deserves to have our name called by God to be his daughter or his son. Who are we?
God’s Chosen People in Judges 6:15
Same question Gideon’s asking. One, to be in God’s family, and then, two, to be a part of accomplishing God’s purpose, to be a part of God’s work in the world. Who are we to be given this commission to make disciples of all the nations? Oh, so we pray. God, we are overwhelmed in a fresh way. I certainly am, as I put myself in Gideon’s shoes here in Judges 6. God, who am I? Who are we? We have done nothing to deserve your mercy, your voice, calling us. We have rebelled against you, and yet you have called our names. You’ve made us your daughters and sons. All glory be to your name, oh, God. For your grace, and your mercy, and your call and our lives for saving us…
And then, God, as if that was not enough, as if that grace was not amazing enough, that you have invited us to participate with you in what you are doing in the world to make the gospel known among all the nations. That you have enlisted us in the great commission toward which all of eternity is headed. Every nation, tribe, tongue, people gathered around your throne, and we have been called. Us, each of us…
To God, I just pray that as people are listening to this right now, they would feel the wonder of this. That you have called them to know you. That you have called them to make you known in this world, right around him. God, we pray today, you would help us to be faithful to that which you’ve called us to do. Help us to make disciples. God, help us to share the gospel today. Help us to lead other people to follow Christ today.
Judges 6:15 Prays for Faithful Service
God, we pray that you would help us to be faithful in your service, and faithful in your service wherever you lead us. God, as we pray for unreached people groups… We pray for Tibetans today. God, we pray for the Ngari Tibetans. We pray that you would call some unlikely person, one of your unlikely children, to take the gospel to them. We pray for that.
And we say together, God, show us if it’s us. We want to do whatever you want us to do. Lord, we are overwhelmed by your grace, your mercy, your calling in our lives. And we say, “Yes,” to whatever you tell us to do. We love you, Lord. We praise you for pursuing us, for calling our names, and we pray that you’d help us to step fully into all you’ve called us to be and all that you called us to do. In Jesus’ name, we pray according to Judges 6:15. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
