An Unlikely Hero

We love Gideon, one of the heroes of the Old Testament, in Judges. 

Israel had found themselves in a big mess.  They stopped listening to the Lord and "did what was evil in the sight of the Lord."  Why were they so surprised when things didn't go their way?  I appreciated the description in Judges 6, "And Israel was brought very low because of Midian.  And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord."

Very low.  We have felt very low before.  We've cried out.   Sometimes it has been because we've put ourselves in a situation all on our own, other times it doesn't seem to be anything we've done, it's just the ups and downs of life.

But God heard the Israelites and sent help, even though they didn't deserve it.  He chose Gideon, such an unlikely hero.   The angel of the Lord called him, a "mighty man of valour" (our 5 year old's middle name, Valour).  Gideon cannot handle this and says, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel?  Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." 

The Lord's answer is great, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."  There it is again - one man.  An unlikely man, a faithless man,  a man full of fear, "too afraid of his family and the men of the town..."  He needs so many signs that God has really chosen him.  Yet God gives him the signs he requests each time. 

I appreciate how weak Gideon was, but mostly how afraid he was.  When the angel first called him he was "beating out the wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites."  He was fearful of being caught as the Midianites were known to take all the produce of the land as soon as it was harvested.  Then, when the angel of the Lord comes to him, he immediately has so many questions for him, doubting, fearing, that what the Lord is asking him to do is even possible as the Lord, in his opinion, hasn't been as wonderful as he'd been told, "If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?  And where are all His wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us....?" (Judges 6:13)

When the Lord responds, "Go in this might of your and save Israel from the hand of MIdian; do not I send you?"  he as even more questions, "Please Lord, how can I save Israel?"

Why?  Where?  How?  He's afraid and needs answers.  Fortunately for him, God does answer him directly, but that isn't always the case.  And, even when he was given answers, he was still afraid.  He did what God told him to do, but "because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night." 

I did that once.  I was sure I was supposed to start a Bible Study at university when I was getting my teaching degree.  But it required putting up posters all around the campus announcing a time and place for Christian teachers-to-be.  So, in our fear, my friend and I went around at night and put up all the posters!  We had a great turnout-out, but we shouldn't have been so afraid!

Gideon definitely grew in strength and faith as God continued to develop him into a great leader.  We take great encouragement from him as my husband and I both took steps of faith this week.  He is moving ahead in an area of his business that isn't foreign to him, but requires a lot of time and effort with no pay until he makes a dent in the market.  It takes a lot of behind the scenes work before he'll see any return, but we both feel this is what he is supposed to be doing.  It makes us fearful at times and we have a lot of questions, but we're moving forward by faith and all along the way we get little signs of encouragement that this is what he's supposed to be doing.  Gideon, initially had a huge army, but God dwindled it down to 300 men, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianties into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'" (Judges 7:2)  RM doesn't even have 300 men.  Most big companies have at least that many employees to do what he would like to do, but RM is only "one man", hardly the least weakest in my eyes, but I know he feels that way sometimes.  But God sees him as a "mighty man of valour".  He is the one who sends him.  He says, "I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianties (or the market!) as one man."  He has said, "Go in this might of yours."  So, next week he's off to a tradeshow to take on the big guys.  Flights are booked.   No 5-star hotels, just a small hole in the wall, but he's going!  He's going with might!  We're excited!

I, too, took a step forward and booked a seminar that I haven't given before.  I never know if women will show up.  I order books by faith.  I book churches by faith.  I send out emails and notices by faith, never knowing if I'll even make enough money to cover the costs of the seminar, but I feel it is such a benefit to so many women.  The Maxwells books have been such an encouragement to so many of us.  I have a lot of fears and questions, but then I, too, get little signs of encouragement along the way, so I keep going.  Any amount of income at this time will help and if this is something I can do to contribute I'm happy to do it.

We read a great verse in Revelation 3 this weekend, "Behold I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut...."  It is speaking of a much greater picture, but we were reminded that God is the one who opens and closes doors.  We simply need to move forward.  It appears He has opened these doors before us.  We are moving through them.  If He closes the doors, then we will know it.