Gideon was hiding.
The Midianites had overrun Israel. Every harvest, they swept in like a swarm of locusts and took everything. So Gideon was threshing his wheat in a winepress, down in a pit where the enemy couldn’t see him.
That’s when the angel of the LORD showed up, sat down under a nearby oak tree, and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
Mighty warrior? Gideon must have looked around to see who the angel was talking to.
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Gideon wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence. He asked God for a sign. Then another sign. Then another. He put out a wool fleece and asked God to make it wet while the ground stayed dry. Then he asked for the opposite. God patiently did both.
Then God did something strange. Gideon gathered an army of 32,000 men. God said, “You have too many.” So Gideon sent home everyone who was afraid, and 22,000 left. God said, “Still too many.” In the end, Gideon was left with just 300 men.
Three hundred men against an army as thick as locusts. Armed with trumpets, empty jars and torches.
In the middle of the night, Gideon’s men surrounded the enemy camp, blew their trumpets, smashed their jars, and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” The Midianites panicked and fled.
So, where does real confidence come from? Not from the size of your army. Not from your family tree. Real confidence comes from knowing that God is with you.
God called Gideon a mighty warrior before he ever did anything mighty. God sees what you can become, too.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank-you for seeing more in me than I see in myself. Thank-you for giving me the confidence of Gideon, so that I will trust in Your strength instead of my own. Thank-you for being with me, mighty and strong. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Wikipedia: Gideon, Midianites, Gideon’s fleece
Look-It Up:
Gideon’s story is told in Judges 6–7.
When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Free Bonus:
When people “put out a fleece” today, asking God for a sign before making a decision, they are borrowing from Gideon.
Gideons International, the organization that places Bibles in hotel rooms, was named after Gideon. It was founded in 1899 by traveling businessmen in Wisconsin.
How did God pick the 300? He had Gideon take the men down to the water to drink. Those who lapped water from their hands stayed. Those who knelt down to drink went home (Judges 7:5-7).