Judges 6:11-15 – “And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, the Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

I want to talk to us for just a moment about potential. God came to Gideon as the land was being occupied by the Midianites. Gideon was hiding behind the winepress threshing the wheat, so that the Midianites would not come and take it away from him.

And the angel of the Lord came to him and said “Gideon, you’re a mighty man of valor.” 

Gideon went, “….me?” He said to the angel of the Lord, “I am the least in my father’s house, my father’s house is the least in our tribe, and the tribe of Manasseh was the smallest of the tribes of Israel.” He was the least of the least of the least. 

But God saw in him what he was not able to see within himself. God saw the potential that Gideon had. 

Moses was found on the back side of the desert, tending to his father-in-law’s sheep when God called on him to be the deliverer. To go back into Egypt and deliver his people from the hand of Pharaoh and Moses began to make all kinds of excuses, some being legitimate reasons. He said, “I have a speech impediment and don’t speak very well; they know me over there and aren’t going to listen to me; they’re going to be asking me, ‘who is this God?’ and I don’t know what to tell them.”

And though Moses had a lot of excuses, God had a lot of answers. And God saw the potential in Moses. 

When Samuel came to anoint the next king among the sons of Jesse, they brought Jesse’s sons before Samuel and Samuel’s response was, “Wow, that’s gotta be the guy! He’s tall, he’s strong, he’s good looking. He’s the guy.” 

But God rejected all the sons of Jesse. He said, “Don’t you have any other sons here?” 

They said “Well, yeah there’s David, but he’s out tending the sheep.” They never even considered David to bring before the Lion up, to be anointed the next king.

But God looks on the heart. And he saw the potential in that little shepherd boy to be a great king, and be a giant killer. 

All of these men had something in common. They did not see their potential, but God did. They did not believe in themselves, but God did. They were judged to be insufficient. But with God, they were able to subdue kingdoms, slay giants, and experience great victory not only for the Lord, but for themselves. 

All of us have potential. One thing that I have struggled with greatly in my life is not being able to look at myself and see anything other than a failure. 

“I can’t do that.”

“That’s beyond me.” 

“I could never.”

“Maybe that’s for somebody else to do!”

But I am here to tell you this morning that all of us have within us the potential for greatness. That potential is magnified and multiplied when it is saturated with the grace and power of God.

I want to encourage us this morning as we go about our day today, and the rest of our days, to trust God. God knew what he was doing when he placed you where you are, when you are. And God did so not looking at you and seeing the “you” that we see in ourselves. Because we look to ourselves and say “There’s no way I can do something great – what are you talking about?”

There is no shortage of critics out there who will tell you the same thing, and the world is going to certainly tell you you can’t do it, but there is a God in heaven who made you, who knows you, and sees in you the potential that you don’t see. Trust that God knew what he was doing when he put you where you are and when you are, and don’t be content to just exist.

Attempt big things because you are capable of great things.