The weakest warrior

by Cassie Downs,

Christian Blogger

You are a nobody. You will accomplish nothing. You don’t have what it takes. What makes you think God wants to use you? No one wants to read what you write. No one wants to hear what you have to tell, it’s time to throw in the towel. It’s time to quit.

Those words gush through my mind too often and more so today than any other. Today the struggle is a little more real, a little louder. Why today? Who knows? Maybe it’s the isolation getting to my brain. I’m not sure why today, but I’m over it.

I detest the way Satan twists and plays on my weaknesses, when God clearly intends my weakness for His glory. I’m not the best writer or the world greatest speaker. I’m not a bible scholar and I’m not the brightest crayon in the box (if we were in a box together and six feet apart, of course). Truthfully, I need not be the best when I consider God loves to use the least, the weakest, to accomplish His work. And I’ve never quite grasped that either. I understand that He uses the weakest to show off His strength. I get that if He were to use the strongest, the best, He would lack glory. But still my tiny little human mind, my fleshly born self, wrestles with why He would want to use me, a weakling compared to so many greats!

Do you struggle with this? Do you play the same conversation over and over in your mind as often as I do? Do you struggle to embrace your weakness? If that’s you, I am with you, friend! You are not alone in this battle.

Let me show you how this works in my life. A long time ago I prayed about starting a podcast (because I could talk about Jesus all day every day). I was excited and then Satan started his rant and I decided in my mind that I shouldn’t do that right now because what if I failed? What if it was a flop? What if no one wanted to hear what I have to say? So podcasting has set somewhere in the farthest corner of my mind since. Well, until a few weeks ago when a mentor encouraged me to start a podcast. Determined that day, I ordered what I needed and started recording (the Everyday Jesus Podcast launches May 3 on all podcast platforms).

So here I am two weeks away from the launch and today’s “you suck buttermilk” mind games start. Who do I think I am starting a podcast? And I go through all the reasons I’m too weak! BUT GOD, He took the time to remind me of all the weaklings in His word. All the outcast and unqualified people He used to do greater works than they were capable of. He reminded me of David, Noah, Moses, Peter, Paul, Gideon… the list goes on. But let’s take a quick peek at Gideons reaction to God’s calling for him because it sounds a lot like me talking, and perhaps you at times.

In Judges 6:11-14 (dust off your sword and give it a read) the angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon, called him a valiant warrior, and sent him to deliver Israel from Midian. No big deal, God was just asking him to save a nation. Just another Saturday for this tough guy. Just kidding, Gideon was freaking out. He was threshing wheat in the winepress, hiding from the Midianites when God called him. Tough guys don’t hide. This guy was weak and afraid, and he let God know He has the wrong guy.

He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.” Judges 6:15 (CSB)

He had to be thinking the Lord had lost it or mixed him up with some warrior. Maybe they look alike, and God made a mistake. But friend, God doesn’t make mistakes. He knew who Gideon was, a valiant warrior. Gideon just couldn’t see it in himself yet.

I love what comes next.

“But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”  Judges 6:16 (CSB)

The Lord reminds Gideon that yes, He is sending him to fight for his nation, but he isn’t fighting alone. God is with him, and He will be the strength that Gideon needs to conquer Midian. Gideon’s weakness is the perfect recipe for God’s glory. In our weakness, God is strength. Being the least allows God to create greatness. Friend, you are weak, you are unable, you are the least, but IN CHRIST you are strong, able, and great. You are the valiant warrior God sees in you, see it for yourself. God, help me see it in myself. We can do ALL things through Christ who STRENGTHENS us (Philippians 2:13). Amen?