Inflation. Fractured families. Political polarization. Increasing isolation and depression. What can any of us possibly do to solve any of these huge problems?

Gideon was just as confused and scared and desperate as any of us. After all, in those days, farmers would normally thresh their wheat at a big flat place, driving a heavy sledge over it to crack the husks off of the grain. They would then winnow the wheat by throwing it up into the air – the lighter chaff would be blown away by the wind while the heavier kernels of grain would fall to the ground.

But the whole nation of Israel was under siege from Midianite marauders. So, if Gideon had threshed his wheat in the traditional way, out in the open air, his crop would likely have been stolen. So in his fear, Gideon went down in a winepress – a pit probably hewn out of rock and 2 or 3 feet deep. We don’t know exactly how he managed to thresh wheat in such a shallow hole. Maybe he was just stooping over, rubbing a heavy stone over the grain by hand, and then blowing the chaff away. It doesn’t really matter – the scene clearly illustrates the painful and humiliating condition into which all the Israelites had been forced just to survive.

But what did the Angel of the Lord say to this hunted, haunted man? “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior” (Judges 6:12). God said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian” (v. 14). God said, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man” (v. 16).

And so we see that in spite of his fears, God promised to be with Gideon. And with God on his side, there was no way Gideon could lose, even when he confronted his worst enemies.

Just so, no matter what trials or temptations or even impossible problems we face, all those who trust in Christ can rest assured: “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). That’s the promise Jesus makes to us. So we can respond with confidence, “The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6; Hebrews 13:6).

Judges 6:11-16 (NASB)

11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.
12 And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.”
13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
14 And the LORD looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?”
15 And he said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.”
16 But the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”