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"THE CRY FOR DELIVERANCE" "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." (Judges 6:11)The Book of Judges is a Book of cycles concerning those up and down, back and forth periods in Israel's history. When I say cycles, I mean there would be times when they would obey God for a while, then, for whatever reason, they'd fall into sin and idolatry, which was followed by oppression and enslavement by enemy nations. When Israel hit the bottom of that barrel, this led them to cry out to God, whereby God in turn would send a Judge who would lead Israel to deliverance.Judges records this same cycle of events continuing over and over for some 330 years. You'd think that those Mommies and Daddies back then, along with their Kids and Grandkids and the generations that followed, would have learned a thing or two after riding on that same old merry-go-round kind of lifestyle. But, they didn't, and neither do we.Well, one of the Judges whom the Lord had chosen to deliver Israel from the heavy-handed and hard-hearted Midianites during one of these cycles back then was this fella found in Judges 6 by the name of Gideon. We see from this verse above that Gideon was working on his daddy's farm threshing wheat one day when the call of God came. Our first glimpse of Gideon finds him to be a shy, hide and go seek sort of fella, and one bent on making excuses as to his qualifications and abilities because of his background.But the Lord isn't One Who goes around looking for someone He can use for His Glory, who, by the world's standards, is qualified in learning and has some exceptional abilities. He isn't searching for someone who's qualified like that, He's looking for those who won't quit on Him. God isn't impressed with our educational abilities; He wants our everyday availability. And the Lord knew that ole Gideon fit that description.When we look at the whole story of Gideon's work and warfare for the Lord in chapters 6-8, we discover that it was that beautiful blend of God's Omnipotence and Gideon's obedience which brought about the victory. To be sure, many other individuals played a part with Gideon in saving the Israelites from enemy forces. God provided 300 men to assist Gideon in winning the battle. Their names aren't listed, but their bravery in fighting the good fight of faith is recorded for us in chapter 7:5-23. As for Gideon, and because of his trust in the Lord, he was inducted into the Hall of Faith (Hebrews 11:32). And lest we forget. Gideon was simply an ordinary person like any of us.Now, here's the message I see from the life of Gideon. God is still on the lookout for ordinary people. In the Scriptures, we often we see the Lord bypassing the most obvious person to do a task and selects those who major in obedience to get the job done. He loves using ordinary folks to accomplish extraordinary feats.Friends, do you think yourself to be ordinary? Then rejoice and be glad. God has some extraordinary work for you to do. Regular people like Gideon have done some remarkable things for the cause of Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells within you and I and empowers us to accomplish our Saviour's work of helping to lead countless souls with broken hearts who cry out for deliverance.