Daily text, Saturday, December 17. 2016

[Queen Esther]

JEHOVAH SEES THE GOOD IN HIS SERVANTS

Jehovah is with you, you mighty warrior.—Judg. 6:12.

http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/dt/r1/lp-e/2016/12/17

At the time the angel said this, Gideon felt anything but “mighty.” He acknowledged his doubts and his own sense of insignificance. But as the ensuing conversation revealed, Jehovah certainly had a much more positive view of his servant than Gideon had of himself. (Judg. 6:11-16) Jehovah trusted Gideon to deliver Israel because He had observed his skills. For one thing, Jehovah’s angel had noticed how Gideon threshed wheat with all his might. Something else had caught the angel’s attention. In Bible times, farmers usually beat out grain in an open area to take advantage of the wind, which would blow away the chaff. Surprisingly, Gideon was secretly threshing wheat in a winepress in order to conceal his meager harvest from the Midianites. What a clever strategy! No wonder that in Jehovah’s eyes, Gideon was more than a cautious farmer—he was a shrewd man. Yes, Jehovah saw his potential and worked with him. w14 6/15 4:4, 5