Discover More about Gideon
Another familiar character in the book of Judges is Gideon. There are three whole chapters devoted to him. He is a fearful man who is at first cautious of God’s call. But eventually he does fully obey what God says to do.
There are three initial things that God tells him, through his angel messenger:
- “The Lord is with you mighty warrior!” Gideon’s response is to change the subject.
- “Go in the strength that you have and save Israel.” To this, Gideon in effect says, “How? I am nobody!”
- “I will be with you.” At this point, Gideon asks for proof that the words are really from God. And when Gideon doubts the first confirmation that God provides, the doubting man asks for a second one.
We can learn two key lessons from this exchange.
God’s Perspective is the Right Perspective
First, God may see us differently then we see ourselves, and it’s unwise to question God’s perspective. He knows all things. We don’t.
We Must Do What We Can and Trust God with the Rest
The second insight is that we need to move forward to the extent that our abilities allow. That is, we must do our part and not expect God to do something for us that we can do ourselves.
Then God will be with us. He will make up for what we lack.
This is an important balance to maintain. One error is to not do anything, even what we can do, because of the enormity of the task, while the other extreme is to try to do it all ourselves without God’s help.
Be Like Gideon
Instead, we need to do what we can and trust God to do the rest—just like Gideon.
[Read through the Bible with us this year. Today’s reading is Judges 4-6, and today’s post is on Judges 6:12-16.]
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.
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