Many of you have undoubtedly read “The Ugly Duckling”, by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, a mother duck’s eggs hatch and one of them is homelier than the others. The barnyard animals tease him for looking the way he does, and so do many other animals he encounters in his first year of life. By the next spring, however, he is welcomed by a family of beautiful swans, as he has become one of them over the course of the long, cold winter.
If only he had known from his birth who he really was! If only someone had made it clear to him that the way he began life was not to be the end of the story. And how comforting it might have been to the shivering baby swan (a cygnet, for avian fans) to know that he would find a place to belong and that he was on the brink of discovering his personal potential and beauty. And how like that cygnet I frequently am. How often I lose sight of all that God created me to be because I am overwhelmed or distracted by my present circumstances. Not seeing the forest for the trees, as it were. And what would life be like if I could rise above it and hear God’s name for me? Sense His purpose for me so clearly that all else would fade in comparison.
In the Old Testament book of Judges, we see a biblical version of “The Ugly Duckling” in some ways. The tribes of Israel are stuck in a cycle of sin and captivity wherein they only cry out to God – their Creator and Deliverer – when they are under the reign of particularly heinous and cruel captors. God would have it otherwise, but human nature is hard to change. So, being the compassionate God He is, He sends them a judge – a person through whom God will deliver His people once again – and attempts, once more, to appeal to their hearts to have consistent relationship with Him. Gideon fits the bill (no pun intended. get it? Ducks? Swans? Bill? Anyway…) and has his own encounter with God’s angel:
11 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 Midinaites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”
14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me….” (Judges 6:11-17)
The main difference between the angel’s perspective and Gideon’s is a matter of focus. Gideon only sees his own reality. Notice his discussion points in the conversation with the angel:
• God can’t be present, or bad things wouldn’t happen.
• I am too weak and/or too small to be effective.
• My background doesn’t qualify me to be a leader or accomplish great things.
Do any of those excuses sound familiar? I’ve said them all to myself at one time or another, I think. But I will tell you this: they are lies. They may or may not be lies because of your particular circumstances, but they are certainly lies when we take into consideration the power of the God who made us and chooses us to participate in His kingdom work and purposes.
In Gideon’s situation, God had indeed given the Israelites over to the cruel Midianites and Gideon really did come from one of the smallest tribes of Israel – the half-tribe of Manasseh. And Gideon and his family were so afraid of the marauding Midianites, who would steal the livestock and crops without provocation, that he was threshing wheat in a depressed area of earth so that he could hide and hopefully keep some of the grain for his own family to eat. There was no evidence of coming victory or freedom that day as Gideon hoped that his day wouldn’t end in violence or humiliation. But God had other plans for Gideon! Look at God’s focus in the conversation:
• You are a warrior.
• Work with what you have.
• I have chosen you.
• I will be with you.
God’s message to Gideon was the full reality. The angel called Gideon by the name of his full potential in God. He told Gideon to go in the strength he had to defeat the Midianites. Although Gideon knew his strength and stature were unimpressive, because God had chosen him and His Presence would be with him, he was about to become a warrior for God’s victory!
What happens when we believe the lie that God is only with us when things are good? Besides ignoring chunks of Scripture to the contrary (James 1:2-4, 1 Peter 1:3-7, 2 Corinthians 1:3-10 as a few examples), we also miss opportunities to run to God in the midst of our difficult circumstances. By rejecting trials as coming from God to refine our faith, we also reject the comfort and the Presence that He offers to carry us through those trials. And we risk missing the maturity that only comes in persevering through the rough patches to use our wisdom to comfort and walk with others when similar situations befall them.
What is the danger in believing in our own limited potential? This one may be more difficult to see, but for that very reason may be more insidiously toxic than the first. Placing my focus on my own limitations – physical, spiritual or professional – does the most damage by virtue of its focus – me. And I am never ever going to be as effective in life in my own power as I will when I am trusting God’s. Never. God simply won’t allow it. Choosing to focus on God’s power and His purpose in my life brings hope and real kingdom action. And I find that removing me from the equation always has better results for God’s glory.
Listen, God really had abandoned the Israelites and left them to their own devices among the foreign nations that surrounded them. Their pattern of disobedience and complacency left Him no alternative. But all it took, time and time again, was the sincere cry for help from His children. There were consequences for their disobedience, but He was and is a compassionate God whose heart beats for honest relationship with His people. And He will use one person to affect many if that one is willing to follow and believe God’s reality. Gideon was afraid and stuck in his idea of who he thought he was at the time God’s angel came to him. But he was called “warrior” and told to go in the strength he had to bring victory for God’s people. At the time, it was strength Gideon didn’t even know he possessed! But knowledge of God’s Presence + whatever strength we have = change. God doesn’t want us to believe we’re spiritual “ugly ducklings” when He has called us and equipped us to be beautiful and victorious swans.
• Read Judges 6 and 7. Where do you see the tension between Gideon’s ability and God’s supernatural leading?
• Read Luke 7:11-17. How do Jesus’ words in verse 13 demonstrate both His power and His compassion in what seems like a hopeless situation? How does His complete knowledge of your circumstances and His complete ability to deal with them bring you comfort or reassurance?
•Is there anything in your life currently that needs God’s perspective? Spend time this week asking Him to give you His reality check so you can trust Him more fully with your potential as you learn to rely on Him and move forward in obedience.
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