God called him "mighty warrior" while he was hiding.
Appears in Judges 6–8.
For seven years the Midianites raided Israel so badly that people hid in caves. When the angel of the LORD found Gideon, he was threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from the enemy. The angel greeted him: "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
Gideon didn't feel mighty. His clan was the weakest in his tribe, and he was the least in his family. God sent him anyway. Gideon asked for signs, more than once, and God patiently gave them.
Then God did something strange. He cut Gideon's army from 32,000 men to just 300, so Israel couldn't boast that they had saved themselves. Armed with trumpets, empty jars and torches, the 300 surrounded the enemy camp at night, smashed the jars and shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" The Midianite army, as thick as locusts, panicked and turned on each other.
Gideon's story starts with fear and ends badly. He obeyed God and tore down his father's altar to Baal, but he did it at night because he was afraid of his family and the town (6:27). He asked God for sign after sign. After the victory, he took harsh revenge on two Israelite towns that had refused to help him (8:13–17). He rightly refused to become king, saying, "The LORD will rule over you" (8:23), but then he made a gold ephod from the plunder, and Israel worshiped it. It "became a snare to Gideon and his family" (8:27). After he died, Israel went straight back to Baal (8:33).
Hebrews 11 lists Gideon among the heroes of faith, despite his fear, his doubts and his failures. What does that tell you about the kind of people God uses?
Reading plan: Gideon: Mighty Warrior? (Gideon in 6 days)