What on Earth Are You So Worried About?Sýnishorn

When we find ourselves in long periods of anxiety, we find ourselves struggling with anxiety and our self-worth. No matter the assurances we get from God and His Word, we still act out of fear. It is a vicious cycle. We are easily overwhelmed with the feeling of defeat, and we tend to belittle ourselves and allow challenging situations to take control of us.

As we continue the story of Gideon, he perceived it was the angel of the Lord that he was having the encounter with. Verse 34 says “But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon… .” We see that the Israelites rally around this reluctant judge. Despite that, we see that he is still fearful and acts out of fear. When he is instructed to tear down the altar of baal, he does it fearfully in the night despite knowing the presence of God was with him. When the men of the city call him out the next morning, he sends his father to the door to answer to them.

This is a judge who the Lord is calling to save the Israelites, but after each task, his faith doesn’t grow, but he starts to doubt and question God at various stages asking for more signs. This vicious cycle of fear and self-worth is tested time and again in the life of Gideon.

We get our self-worth from God. In creation, mankind is the pinnacle of God’s creation as we are made in His own image. We must not look to what others say or how the world tries to pull you down. We must draw our worth from the fact that we are children of God.