By John Stallings
When a scrawny, listless, dull-eyed baby is brought to a physician and the physician pronounces, "F.T.T", the parents are in world of hurt.
F.T.T often suggests that the parents are negligent, or abusive, or psychologically unfit, or at the very least too immature to be entrusted with a baby.
F.T.T. is an acronym to describe an ailment where—for unknown reasons—a newborn infant is unable to gain weight or to grow.
F.T.T. stands for “Failure To Thrive.”
Sometimes it happens when a parent or care-giver is depressed, and the depression seems to get passed down. Sometimes something seems to be off in an infant’s metabolism for reasons no one can understand. FTT is one of those mysterious, terribly medical phrases that sounds like an explanation but in truth, explains nothing.
NOTHING MORE NORMAL THAN GROWTH
One of the most common and widespread activities of the natural world around us is growth. The universe is alive and growing and we just naturally expect it. Children grow, often more than their parents would wish. I’ve been shocked at the suddenness with which tiny babies develop into little children and next thing you know they’re sitting on the front row in church. Then almost overnight they’re in school and then almost overnight they’re graduating from college. To me this is a beautiful thing to watch, although it makes me feel old.
A wobbly-legged puppy is a full grown dog within a few short months. Trees grow, flowers grow, Institutions grow, and Nations grow. Growth is universal. But more important than any of this is the growth that takes place in man. Man grows physically, intellectually and spiritually. It’s the last of those that is supremely important.
Some time ago I heard a minister tell about going to a 40th high school reunion. I didn’t know there was such a thing but there obviously is.
For months he saved to take his wife back to the place and the people he’d left four decades before. The closer the time came for the reunion, the more excited he became, thinking of all the wonderful stories he would hear about the changes and the accomplishments these old friends would tell him. One night before he left he even pulled out his old yearbooks, read the silly statements and the good wishes for the future that students write to each other.
He wondered what ol’ Number 86 from his football team had done. He wondered if any others had encountered this Christ who had changed him so profoundly. He even tried to guess what some of his friends would look like, and what kind of jobs and families some of these special friends had.
The day came to leave and a friend drove them to the airport. Their enthusiasm was contagious. The friend encouraged them to have a great time and assured them he’d be there to pick them up on their return home.
The friend watched as this man and his wife got off the plane two days later and was stunned at how despondent they looked. He almost didn’t want to ask, but finally asked how the reunion was.
The minister told him it was one of the saddest experiences of his life.
When the friend asked what happened the minister quickly retorted that it wasn’t what had happened but what hadn’t happened. It had been 40 years and his class-mates hadn’t changed. They had simply gained weight, changed clothes, gotten jobs...but they hadn’t really changed. And what he felt was maybe one of the most tragic things I could ever imagine about life. For reasons he didn’t fully understand, it seemed as though many of them had chosen not to change.
On the drive home, the minister unburdened his heart to his friend. He asked him if he ever saw him becoming stagnant or “stuck in a rut” to give him a quick swift kick where he needed it because life is too precious and too important to grow stale and jaded. The minister added- “for Christ’s sake” I hope you’ll love me enough to challenge me to keep growing."
In most areas of life growth is automatic. We eat, sleep and -voila, we grow. Of course that doesn’t happen in the case of a child with FTT. Tragically there is no growth. But for the overwhelmingly majority of us growth just happens.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH ISN’T A GIVEN
In the area of spiritual growth, it doesn’t happen that way. In the realm of things spiritual, growth isn’t automatic. It doesn’t take place without plan and effort. It can be achieved only through conscious desire and diligent work.
As Christians our greatest desire should be to grow into the likeness of Christ but tragically many develop Spiritual FTT. Failure To Thrive-as a Christian. The problem is that we live in a secular age and often the sheer mass of secular, non-spiritual activities crowd out the deep longing of our hearts. Much of the time the desire is there but at other times it’s crowded out by the trivia of the day. We find ourselves striving for the same goals and in the same manner as non-Christians. We live in a materialistic, secular age and often the den of non-spiritual activities drowns out the things of the spirit.
IMMATURITY
Babies are cute and delightful in many ways. But if a person were to remain a baby for ten or twenty years, something would be terribly wrong. We would find in that baby something pitiful, something grotesque. Most all parents have remarked when their kids were being raised, “Look how quickly they’re growing. I wish I could keep them this age forever.” But if that child truly stopped growing and developing, as parents we’d pay any price and do any and all things in the realm of possibility to have that child to continue to grow and develop normally.
Now, in a literal, physical sense there are no twenty-year-old babies. But there are twenty-year-olds, forty-, sixty-year-olds who often act like babies. And what do we say about them? That they are cute and delightful? No! Think of a grown man coming to church with a flower in his lapel that squirts water at you. You mutter, “Joe, why don’t you grow up?” After a while, Joe might find himself without any friends, because people like that are unpleasant to say the least..
Immaturity is hard to tolerate. I’m afraid that God is similarly annoyed by some of us, for there’s a lot of spiritual immaturity among Christians today in the church. This is not always necessarily a bad thing — much of it results because of our evangelistic emphasis on winning souls. When new spiritual babies are being born you expect to have spiritual babies around.
But we’ve got to keep encouraging the young Christians to grow. And older Christians too, for we never outgrow the need to grow. We need to emphasize the basics of the gospel: salvation by the death and resurrection of Christ, by God’s grace. That’s imperative. But let nobody misunderstand: there’s a lot more to learn in God’s Word beside these basics. And it’s sad when someone who has been a Christian for a long time knows nothing else than the simple gospel.
Listen to Hebrews 6:1,
Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God…
It’s amazing how many older Christians there are who have to be nursed. People have to walk on egg-shells around them to keep from hurting their feelings. Then they’ll start whining if not howling and the church “wet nurse” has to carry them their “bottle.”
Instead of being spiritually strong men and women, they are mere babes and have to be cared for. Instead of being a workshop, the church becomes a nursery—a hospital. Paul said,
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."
But many who profess to be mature believers are still playing with spiritual dolls.
Spiritual babes, instead of doing work, make work for others. The difference between a child and a man is that the man works and the child makes work for others. Too many churches of today are full of babies. You could put up a sign in front of the church that reads “Babyland.”They do not help; they hinder. Many have not learned to walk, but they have learned to talk. The preacher must spend much of his time cradle-rocking to keep them from whining. He has to feed them Pablum from the pulpit then rush to the back door to “burp” them before they leave.
Many Christians live with stunted growth. We weren’t made to be like the tiny ponies that will never grow any bigger or the twisted bonsai tree. Once in a while we see the little people, normal people in every way except they are dwarfs. Some Christians suffer from stunted growth! Like Peter Pan they never grow up. Many Christian men and women stop short! They grow older, yes, but long ago they ceased any inner development. They have had no fresh ideas for years. They have flowered in no new interests or understanding. They are spiritually dead wood. They sing “standing on the promises” but they’re just sitting on the premises. They are spiritually immature and often this is seen in their un-Christian attitudes or behavior. Growth in a human being is a matter of striving. By our own will and grit we can shake off lethargy, push through the hard crust of accustomed ideas, and reach into the light of greater wisdom.
WHAT DOES SPIRITUAL GROWTH LOOK LIKE?
First, let's look at what it’s not. It’s not becoming more saved than at the moment of conversion. It’s not becoming more forgiven than when converted. It’s not becoming more justified than at salvation.
Growing to maturity isn’t being sinless. Christians are sinners saved by grace, constantly being forgiven, but continually growing to maturity in Christ. Perfection will be completed in heaven when we shall be as He is. Perfection is completed only in eternity but here our personal best is our goal.
What Christian growth is , is learning about who God is and what He says to us through His Word. It’s being able to do more of what God wants. It is living more and more in the love of God.
Consider Bible evidences of growth in men. This growth resulted in change in,
Peter: From backsliding to blessing.
Paul: From the Damascus road to the Roman Road.
John: From the Son of Thunder to the disciple of love.
TWO FALSE CONCEPTS OF GROWTH
Like ditches on either side of the road, there are two “spiritual growth ditches” we can fall into. One ditch is the false concept that in order to grow, one must become more Radical and Legalistic. Therefore, any additional teachings that offer a stricter way are what God’s looking for in us. Teachings that offer a more permissive approach are avoided. This attitude isn’t descriptive of spiritual growth.
Please understand: The Bible clearly describes the Way of life as a narrow way (Matt. 7:13-14), -but not a way that is progressively becoming narrower and narrower. Satan will get behind us and push us so hard and fast that as time goes by we’ll become so narrow-minded that we can look through a key-hole with both eyes. This isn’t Christian growth.
The opposite point-of-view is-that growth manifests itself by becoming increasingly permissive. Thus, any teaching perceived as being burdensome-anything that’s “Jewish,” or from the Old Testament-is discarded in favor of the “new-found freedom” that Christ brought.
An honest reading of scripture however, does not support either approach. The biblical record shows that in the early Church, there was no deleting of or adding to the Truth that was given initially. Some changes were made [male circumcision was dropped as a requirement] to show how the Truth should be administered in the New Testament era, but the Truth itself was an unalterable, divinely revealed message. It was and still is the unchanging standard. Therefore, there was no need for it to become progressively stricter or more liberal. But sadly there will always be those who will get into the ditch on one side of the road or the other. If he can, Satan will “Freeze” us or “Fry” us.
The Bible emphasizes over and over again – do not add to or take away from the Truth. Don’t go to the right or to the left. Do not conservatize or liberalize. God wants balance, stability, and consistency, not vacillation with every wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14). God doesn’t want us to go to extremes. Both the biblical and historical record clearly show that when any church organization begins to tamper with the revealed Truth, whether making it more restrictive or less restrictive, it is only a matter of time until that organization repudiates what it originally believed.
BIBLE EMPHASIS
Growth in grace is a constant emphasis of Peter’s: "Crave spiritual milk so that you might grow into the fullness of your salvation. It’s not difficult to understand why this might be his concern. Peter had let the Savior down. He knew what the consequences of immaturity were. He was eager that others be spared the pain it brought him so he wanted to see his fellow Christians growing-up.
Listen again to Peter…
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.—2 Peter 1:5-7
The elder unto the well beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.-3 John
Listen to the writer of Hebrews chapter 5:12...
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.—Hebrews 5:1
“By this time you ought to be teachers….” -By this time.
How long have you been a Christian? 6 months? 6 years? 50 years? How much growing have you done in that time? And where ought you to be by this time?
The writer to the Hebrews furnishes us with two important measuring devices…not length and weight but knowledge and behavior.
SPIRITUAL BOTTLE BABIES
The writer of Hebrews uses the picture of baby’s diet: Are you still drinking milk, or have you been weaned to solid food? If you are a new Christian, of course, you need milk! Simple spiritual truth. By this time, says the Hebrews writer, you ought to be teaching others!
Is it any wonder that so few Christians have brought another person to Jesus Christ, and that we feel so ill-equipped to answer the questions or challenges others bring? Is it any wonder that when some moment of trial of serious crisis comes, we go to our spiritual wells and find that they have run dry. If you and I don’t grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, we dishonor Him who made our minds and calls us to use them!
Are you growing in knowledge? If so, I rejoice with you and urge you to continue!
Listen to Paul…
And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ...Ephesians 4:11-15
The following are several proofs that we are making progress in our spiritual lives:
# If you are conscious that you are exercising more childlike and complete confidence in God, this indicates that you are growing in grace. As your life, attitude, and spirit manifests this ever-expanding faith in God, you demonstrate that you are growing in God.
# If you are weaned from the world and its temptations, you have grown in grace. A soul crucified to the world signals spiritual progress.
# Fewer feelings of reluctance when called to exercise self-denial reveals growth in grace. It shows that the soul is blending into harmony with the Will of God.
#Less temptation to sins of commission and omission is another sign of growth. Less temptation to shy away from unpleasant responsibilities, from prayer, Scripture reading, private and family devotions, displays growth.
#Deepening intensity and zeal for God’s causes reveals growth. Sometimes a Christian’s zeal cools, and at other times it warms; sometimes it is committed, at other times it is fickle and fleeting. As Christians grow in devotion, their zeal becomes deep, intense and steady.
# Christians sometimes cannot speak, pray or do anything in public without being either proud or self-condemning. As they lose sight of self and consistently work for God’s glory with spiritual confidence, they grow.
# Deadness to flattery or condemnation signals growth in grace. Paul counted it a small thing to be judged by others. He sought only to find God’s approval.
# A growing graciousness in all things denotes Christian growth.
# Calmness in hardship evidences growth. It shows that the soul is firmly anchored in Christ, more able to withstand the storms of life.
# Christian growth is manifesting when there’s tranquility in the face of sudden, crushing disasters and losses.
# Patience under provocation and less temptation to worry speak of growth in grace.
# When you find that you not only tolerate but accept God’s will when it calls you to suffer, when you can endure patiently and joyfully, this shows you are growing in God.
# An increasing deadness to all the things that the world offers and to all its threats denotes growth in grace.
# Dwelling less on other’s faults and shortcomings and having the ability to “sweep around our own door” first, and becoming more focused on biblical solutions to problems is a heartening sign of growth in God.
# Speech that is gentle rather than sarcastic, uncharitable or severe. A growing sensitivity and tenderness in speaking of and relating to others is a healthy sign of growth.
# An increasing reluctance to think of or treat anyone as an enemy, and an increasing ease in treating people kindly, praying for them earnestly and working to do them good.
# An ability to forgive rather than hold grudges, and a lack of desire to retaliate for injuries.
# Conformity to God and growth in His grace is clearly displayed by a growing jealousy for God’s honor, and for the church’s purity in a corrupt world.
#Doing things less by feelings and more because it’s the right thing to do.”
#Greater humility.-James 4:10-1 Peter5:5,6
QUESTIONS WE SHOULD ASK OURSELVES
Are our thoughts and motivations moving beyond worldly interests?
Are we moving beyond wanting everyone's approval?
Are we moving beyond having to be asked to serve the Lord?
Are we moving beyond the fear of life, death and eternity?
Are we sharing our faith as the Holy Spirit leads?
Are we adding Diligence and Faith to our life?
Are we adding Virtue?
Are we adding Knowledge?
Are we adding Temperance?
Are adding Patience?
Are adding Godliness?
Are we adding Brotherly Kindness?
Are we adding Love?
If God had grades within the Christian life, what grade would you be in? What if our schools turned out as many [or few] graduates as the Church does?
When our ancient fore parents began to sail they could sail only in the direction that the wind was blowing. If the wind was blowing where they didn't want to go, too bad. Either they took the sail down and drifted or they put the sail up and were blown off course. As people became more sophisticated sailors, however, they learned how to sail across the wind, even how to sail against the wind. Regardless of where the wind was blowing now, they could use the wind -- any wind -- to go where they were supposed to go. As the old axiom says, “It’s not the direction of the wind, but the set of the sails.”
It’s is a mark of Christian maturity that we can advance, go where we are supposed to be going, regardless of the most contrary winds that are blowing around us. Only the mature can do this!
Which gives us a choice doesn’t it? We can come together to encourage one another, to love one another, to support one another and to teach one another and so form this spiritual family which is God’s will for our life.
Or we can try and be lone ranger Christians and attempt to do it on our own. We can embrace our fellow believers, take them by the hand and open our heart to them. Or, we can exclude them, with the risk that we may grow cold and distant and our faith may experience-
Failure To Thrive.
Blessings,
John
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
A Few Good Men
By John Stallings
He wasn’t a prophet, preacher, priest, or a king, just an ordinary man who was radically changed by an encounter with a heavenly visitor.
His name is kept alive in modern times by the Bibles to be found in most hotel and motel rooms.
Judges records the history of the nation of Israel for 305 years after the death of Joshua and in this book we see many frightening parallels between Israel and America.
Israel was established by God Himself and He gave them Canaan, the best land on the earth at that time. God gave them His love, The Law, and The Land, only asking them for one thing in return--that they would love Him, obey Him, and serve Him. What did Israel do? They Denied the Lord, they Defied the Law, and Defiled the Land. So God had to judge them.
RIPPED FROM AMERICAN HEADLINES
The parallel with America is obvious and alarming. No nation has ever had a Christian beginning like the USA. We too have been given The Lord, The law, and a Land, and we've Denied Him and Defied Him. Our land is being Defiled, leaving us fighting for survival.
Gideon's story is recorded in chapters 6-8 of the book of Judges. He lived in the period of history of Israel that was made up of seven repeated cycles in which the people of Israel rebelled against God, began to worship the pagan gods around them, suffered the painful consequences, cried out to God for help, and He responded by sending a judge who would deliver them.
For a while the people would return to God but when the judge died they would rebel against God and the cycle would start all over again.
Gideon was the fourth of these judges and his ministry began with the same phrase that got all the other judges started. We find it in verse 1 of Judges 6, -“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord." This time the consequence of worshiping false gods came in the form of a group of people known as the Midianites. Their mode of attacking the Israelites was different than the Canaanites that Deborah had to deal with. Instead of the iron chariots that served Jabin and Sisera, the Midianites had a unique military weapon in the form of…. camels.
In the twenty-first century with our sophisticated instruments of death: smart bombs, patriot missiles, and stealth bombers it’s hard for us to appreciate the military significance of camels twelve hundred years before Christ. In Gideon's day, camels gave the Midianites an enormous military advantage. They were so ugly they had to slip up on water to get a drink [kidding] and would strike the Israelites with great fear. But the main benefit of the camel was that it gave the Midianites a mobile, long-range, swift, attack-capability against the Hebrews, who were entirely dependent on foot soldiers.
I saw something this week that I never thought I’d see; a video of huge elephants brought to Joplin Missouri to help clean up the debris from the vociferous twisters that struck the town. I watched in amazement as the Pachyderms pulled cars and trucks around like they were small tin-cans. At first it seemed funny but it worked-or they worked-beautifully. I prayed they wouldn’t get upset because if those elephants had decided to throw a fit, a few of them could easily wipe out what was left of Joplin.
A camel can travel for three or four days with a heavy load on its back, and cover about 300 miles without food or water. With this powerful “new weapon,” the Midianites were able to develop a unique strategy in their war against Israel. Rather than invading and occupying the land, they simply waited until harvest time each fall.
Then they would move in from the desert, cross the Jordan in huge numbers, like a plague of locusts, stripping it bare of grain, vegetables, fruit, and livestock. Finally, with their camels loaded down with spoils, they would cross back into the desert and live there until the next harvest time. They did this for seven years and left Israel in desperation. People were reduced to hiding food in mountain dens and caves.
This was incredibly humiliating and debilitating to Israel. Since an attack could come at any moment, they lived in constant fear. We’re told… "They were brought very low because of Midian."
GIDEON
Then Gideon appears on the scene. His name means "hacker" or "hewer" which would seem to be a name for a man of great strength and courage. But, when we get our first look at Gideon, he's cowering under a tree, threshing grain in a wine press. Normally a man would do so on a wooden threshing floor, in an exposed place so that the wind could carry away the chaff. He would use a threshing sledge pulled by oxen. But, Gideon was trying to separate the grain from the chaff by walking on it in his bare feet as you would on grapes to turn them into wine. And he was doing this hidden under a tree for fear of the marauding Midianites. One day when Gideon was doing this a man approached, sat down under the tree, and watched.
Two things are significant about this person; Gideon didn’t know that he was the Angel of the Lord so there must have been nothing supernatural about His appearance. He didn't have wings, or wear a halo, or carry a harp. He didn't glow with a heavenly light like those heavenly beings on Touched by An Angel. Secondly it was not an angel of the Lord, but rather THE angel of the Lord. In the Old Testament whenever the phrase, "THE Angel of the Lord," is used it refers to Jesus Himself, before His incarnation...taking the form of an angel and visiting the earth. Now, if I didn't know the Lord better, I might think that He was mocking Gideon with the first words He spoke. In verse 12, He said, "The Lord is with you, Oh Valiant warrior!" Gideon was anything but valiant at this point. He was more of a cowardly, beleaguered victim.
One day a man came to his psychiatrist with a problem. He said, "Doctor, please help me. Everything's going wrong. I feel worthless. My friends tell me I have a terrible inferiority complex. Can you help me?" So the psychiatrist told him that he would give him some tests and evaluate him. A week later, the man came back and the psychiatrist said, "Friend, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that we have proved you don’t have a complex. There is no doubt about that. The bad news is, you’re inferior."
Gideon was inferior-at least in the judgment of his peers-and he pointed this out to God. He said that he was of the tribe of Manasseh, which was the lowest and weakest tribe in all Israel. Then, he said that his family was the lowest and weakest family in the tribe of Manasseh. Further, he was the lowest and weakest member of his family. So, he was the lowest and weakest member of the lowest and weakest family of the lowest and weakest tribe of all Israel! You cannot get much lower than that. But to these excuses of inferiority, God gave a single reply, "I will be with you...."which brings us to the first principle of how to be a valiant warrior for God. You see, when it comes to the battles of life you must remember:
IT’S NOT IMPORTANT WHO YOU ARE, IT’S WHO YOU’RE WITH
God does not seek people who are the most outwardly capable, or the most naturally "strong." No, He intentionally works with the most unlikely material so that everyone can see the glory belongs to God and God alone. The apostle Paul marveled over this principle more than a thousand years later writing,
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...as it is written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” [I Corinthians 1:26-27, 31]
Time and time again as we read the Word of God, we see God cutting away a man's self-confidence to bring him to the place where he admits that he is totally inadequate to do or to be what God desires. There isn’t a single major figure in the Word of God whom God didn’t bring to realize a deep sense of his own inadequacy. And this is vital for truly valiant warriors.
Paul reminds us- "We are not adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves...our adequacy is from God." (II Corinthians 3:5)
The narrative says- "Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon." The Spirit of God wore Gideon the way a man puts on a suit of clothes, indwelling him, empowering him to do battle. You and I must remember this principle if we are to be effective soldiers in God's army! A good approach for us would be to daily say to God, "Lord, here I am. I want to be your suit of clothes today. I want you to take me and use me. Lord, just walk around in me today." This a great philosophy for us to embrace, for our strength, and our sufficiency for victory doesn’t come from ourselves but from God.
Our key to victory is God's indwelling presence and power. We are nothing without God, no matter how strong or talented we may be. In this army, it doesn't matter who you are. It matters Who you are with or Who is with you! To what extent have you allowed the promise of God's adequacy to minister to your life? God Himself has committed to be with you and to pour His strength into you. Remember your weakness does not hinder God. In fact, II Corinthians 12:9 says that,
"His strength is made perfect in weakness."
IF YOU AND I WANT TO BE VICTORIOUS IN LIFE WE MUST DECIDE WHICH GENERAL WE’LL FOLLOW.
The first assignment that God gave Gideon was not to attack the Midianites but to assault the idol worship of his people.
The reason the people of Israel were weaken and unable to defend themselves was that they had chosen to worship and put their faith in something other than the true God. They were following the wrong "general!" And many times we are weak because we make the same mistake. We feel overwhelmed because we worship things other than God. We have divided loyalties. This is what Jesus was warning us of when He said,
"No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24)
And this, Gideon's first battle was probably his toughest because in his own backyard there was a vivid example of the reason God had allowed Midian to overwhelm and enslave Israel.
Joash, Gideon's father, had apparently built an altar to Baal on his property and with it an Asherah, a wooden pillar representing the Canaanite goddess of fertility. And it was not just for the family's private use. It obviously served as the village shrine with Joash acting as the supervisor of pagan worship in the area. God told Gideon to take a young bull and a seven-year-old bull and use them to tear down the massive altar to Baal. Then he was to cut down the wooden Asherah and, using that wood, he was to build a fire on which to sacrifice the seven-year-old bull on a new altar which he was to build for the Lord. God gave Gideon this task so that he could learn that before Midian could go, Baal had to go.
God would tolerate no rivals. Truly great soldiers in God’s army only follow one commander.
People notice how committed we, who claim to be Christians, are to God. Gideon's neighbors certainly noticed the results of his actions that night. In fact the next morning when they saw what he had done they demanded his death but his own father came to his defense and said … "Hey....if baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar!" The neighbors agreed and they gave Gideon a new name, "Jerub-baal" which literally means "let baal contend-let him fight for himself."
From that moment on, every time the people of Israel looked at Gideon, they had visible proof of the weakness of baal and the power of God. This valiant warrior helped them to see the importance of following only the one true God.
OUR FOLLOWING HIS ORDERS ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD
This was a learning process for Gideon. From the beginning he had a lot of trouble trusting the commands and promises of God. Even after he gathered his army he was afraid and you may remember he tested God. It wasn't that Gideon was trying to discover God's will. He already knew what God's will was for his life. Prior to his fleece Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said." You see, God had made His will perfectly clear. Gideon didn't lack information about the will of God; He lacked confidence to trust the Word of God. Gideon's real struggle was one of faith, not information. This is an important lesson for all Christians to learn for as Hebrews 11:6 says,
"Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Note that God is gentle with Gideon. God graciously helps build Gideon's faith. First Gideon put a sheep skin on the ground and asked God to make only the fleece wet with dew and the ground dry and God did this. But that wasn't enough to build Gideon's confidence. You can almost see his mind at work. He thinks, "Maybe this isn't as amazing as it seems...after all, it would be more likely for the water to be absorbed by the wool than the ground.
Maybe the fact that the wool is wet and the ground is dry would have happened anyway. It's not really as sign of anything." So, he makes a second request of God: "Will you reverse the process -- and make the ground wet and the fleece dry?" Gideon's response here points out how inadequate fleeces can be when used as a method for discovering God's will. The results are difficult to interpret.
I read about a Bible school announcing that it was planning to buy a building. They said, "If we have $100,000 by this date, we will know it is God's will. We will know that God wants us to do it." On the appointed day, they had only $90,000 and now they had a problem; should they buy the building or not? And if it was not God's will, where had the $90,000 come from? Was it Satan's money? Of course not. But the fallacy was that they had expected God to do His work in their way.
Do you see the weakness in this practice? It tends to limit God...it puts Him in a box. Litmus tests like this are always difficult to interpret. Fleeces aren't the best way to find the will of God. We don't need to cast fleeces to experience God's guidance. We’re liable to be “fleeced.” He has given us His written Word to help us find His will...and His presence to help us understand and do it. In Psalm 73:23-24 the psalmist rejoices in this truth saying to God,
"You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory."
The amazing thing about this isn’t what it shows about Gideon's fleece, but what it teaches us about God's patience. Gideon was a special student in God's "slow-learner class." God had done so much in his life already but Gideon was still saying, "If you're really going to do what You say...do this or that." But God kept on loving and working with him. I thank God for that because I too am one of God's slow learners. Many times in my life I have had to pray, "I believe...but not quite enough...help my unbelief.”
Over and over I have learned to be thankful that God is,
"Slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness; maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." Exodus. 34:6-7.
IF WE FOLLOW GOD, GET READY FOR “GOD-SIZED” BATTLES.
The Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded Israel in this 8th harvest season. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel, and they came fully expecting to carry out their usual policy of an uncontested stripping of the land and a triumphant return to their desert home. But this time there was a difference. God had raised up a man who was prepared to lead Israel against these camel-riding carpet baggers. Empowered by the Spirit of God, Gideon marched his army of 32,000 men to the hills of Mt. Gilboa.
The Midianites were armed to the teeth but Gideon and his men had virtually no weapons. Gideon and his men were no doubt wondering how they could possibly win against such a superior force. So imagine how Gideon felt when God said that he had too many troops and that all those who were afraid should return home? Interestingly, 22,000 took him up on this offer!
After the 22,000 left, God said that was still too many so He instructed Gideon to watch his men drink and send everyone home who bent their faces down to drink water from the stream directly. Only 300 stood up alertly, ready for battle, the water cupped in their hands.
So in a short span of time God had taken an overwhelming situation and made it impossible. It would seem that defeat was going to be snatched from the jaws of victory. The original 32000 had no chance of winning against the hordes of the Midianites and their superior weaponry but for 300 it was laughable. God chose less than one percent of the group that Gideon began with to fight. They were outnumbered 450 to 1. God isn’t interested in simply giving His people victory. He’s concerned with teaching us trust.
Our victories make us self-reliant, which is worse, far worse, in the long run, than losing! That night I don't think Gideon slept too well. Would you? 300 against 135,000! That's like a football team composed of junior high school girls going up against Super Bowl champions! God of course knew how Gideon felt so He told him, "If you are afraid to go down against the Midianites, let me help you."
A DREAM CHANGES EVERYTHING
God knew the anguish Gideon was going through so He invited Gideon to go to the camp of the Midianites. Gideon obeyed and was accompanied by a young boy, named Purah. They snuck in close enough to hear Midianite sentries talking about a dream in which a barley loaf flattened a tent. The Midianites were nomadic so the tent clearly represented them. And barley was most often used as animal food, but it was all that the Israelites had left because of the better foodstuffs had been taken. So, the barley loaf clearly represented Israel. The Midianite said, "That barley bun is nothing less than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand."
As he listened Gideon no doubt sensed that the dream had been repeated throughout the whole army of the Midianites. They had been terrorized inwardly by the mysterious hand of God. So this huge army was already defeated. And at this point Gideon learned he greatest lesson of his life. He realized as he never had before, that it was not a battle between 300 Israelites and 135,000 Midianites. It was God who was fighting Midian and the 300 men were just His channels.
Gideon went back to his little band of men and said, "Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands." He divided his army into three groups of 100 and as they departed they were given their weapons.
Here is what was issued to them: a clay jar, a trumpet, and a torch. No shields, no spears, no swords. Gideon had his “few good men” to surround the camp and then waited until the middle watch had just been posted. That was about 10:30 pm when some of the men had been asleep for three or four hours and were now in their deepest sleep. The men who had just been relieved from guard duty would still be moving through the camp, and the men who had just gone on duty would still be rubbing their eyes.
Suddenly there was a huge noise all around them. The rams' horns were signaling an enemy attack! Then the clay pitchers smashed on the ground sounded like the armor of armies clashing into one another. The Midianites looked up and they were surrounded on three sides by lights and torches. Finally a great shout shattered the silence "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon."
In all the confusion, the camels stampeded and in the chaos that resulted, the panicked Midianites began to slaughter one another. To the half-asleep men, everything that moved became an enemy. Every shadow was an Israelite. All this time, Gideon's men didn’t move. They stood in their place blowing their trumpets, waving their torches and shouting their slogan, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon." By they way, they only had one "sword"-the sword of the Lord-and that is all they needed!
God still calls His troops into battle against overwhelming odds but sadly many Christians only want to do things they can do. Just like Gideon, fear keeps us from victory. Fear stops us dead in our tracks. So we go on living a defeated existence until the pain of defeat becomes too much for us to bear.
Then some of us like Gideon find the faith to break through seemingly unconquerable fear and take an honest shot at victorious life in God.
Why is Gideon in Hebrews 11? In the midst of a backslidden people he rerouted his doubts. He accomplished something for God strictly by faith!
Gideon defeated the powerful Midianite army with only 300 soldiers-Just a few good men!
Blessings,
John
He wasn’t a prophet, preacher, priest, or a king, just an ordinary man who was radically changed by an encounter with a heavenly visitor.
His name is kept alive in modern times by the Bibles to be found in most hotel and motel rooms.
Judges records the history of the nation of Israel for 305 years after the death of Joshua and in this book we see many frightening parallels between Israel and America.
Israel was established by God Himself and He gave them Canaan, the best land on the earth at that time. God gave them His love, The Law, and The Land, only asking them for one thing in return--that they would love Him, obey Him, and serve Him. What did Israel do? They Denied the Lord, they Defied the Law, and Defiled the Land. So God had to judge them.
RIPPED FROM AMERICAN HEADLINES
The parallel with America is obvious and alarming. No nation has ever had a Christian beginning like the USA. We too have been given The Lord, The law, and a Land, and we've Denied Him and Defied Him. Our land is being Defiled, leaving us fighting for survival.
Gideon's story is recorded in chapters 6-8 of the book of Judges. He lived in the period of history of Israel that was made up of seven repeated cycles in which the people of Israel rebelled against God, began to worship the pagan gods around them, suffered the painful consequences, cried out to God for help, and He responded by sending a judge who would deliver them.
For a while the people would return to God but when the judge died they would rebel against God and the cycle would start all over again.
Gideon was the fourth of these judges and his ministry began with the same phrase that got all the other judges started. We find it in verse 1 of Judges 6, -“The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord." This time the consequence of worshiping false gods came in the form of a group of people known as the Midianites. Their mode of attacking the Israelites was different than the Canaanites that Deborah had to deal with. Instead of the iron chariots that served Jabin and Sisera, the Midianites had a unique military weapon in the form of…. camels.
In the twenty-first century with our sophisticated instruments of death: smart bombs, patriot missiles, and stealth bombers it’s hard for us to appreciate the military significance of camels twelve hundred years before Christ. In Gideon's day, camels gave the Midianites an enormous military advantage. They were so ugly they had to slip up on water to get a drink [kidding] and would strike the Israelites with great fear. But the main benefit of the camel was that it gave the Midianites a mobile, long-range, swift, attack-capability against the Hebrews, who were entirely dependent on foot soldiers.
I saw something this week that I never thought I’d see; a video of huge elephants brought to Joplin Missouri to help clean up the debris from the vociferous twisters that struck the town. I watched in amazement as the Pachyderms pulled cars and trucks around like they were small tin-cans. At first it seemed funny but it worked-or they worked-beautifully. I prayed they wouldn’t get upset because if those elephants had decided to throw a fit, a few of them could easily wipe out what was left of Joplin.
A camel can travel for three or four days with a heavy load on its back, and cover about 300 miles without food or water. With this powerful “new weapon,” the Midianites were able to develop a unique strategy in their war against Israel. Rather than invading and occupying the land, they simply waited until harvest time each fall.
Then they would move in from the desert, cross the Jordan in huge numbers, like a plague of locusts, stripping it bare of grain, vegetables, fruit, and livestock. Finally, with their camels loaded down with spoils, they would cross back into the desert and live there until the next harvest time. They did this for seven years and left Israel in desperation. People were reduced to hiding food in mountain dens and caves.
This was incredibly humiliating and debilitating to Israel. Since an attack could come at any moment, they lived in constant fear. We’re told… "They were brought very low because of Midian."
GIDEON
Then Gideon appears on the scene. His name means "hacker" or "hewer" which would seem to be a name for a man of great strength and courage. But, when we get our first look at Gideon, he's cowering under a tree, threshing grain in a wine press. Normally a man would do so on a wooden threshing floor, in an exposed place so that the wind could carry away the chaff. He would use a threshing sledge pulled by oxen. But, Gideon was trying to separate the grain from the chaff by walking on it in his bare feet as you would on grapes to turn them into wine. And he was doing this hidden under a tree for fear of the marauding Midianites. One day when Gideon was doing this a man approached, sat down under the tree, and watched.
Two things are significant about this person; Gideon didn’t know that he was the Angel of the Lord so there must have been nothing supernatural about His appearance. He didn't have wings, or wear a halo, or carry a harp. He didn't glow with a heavenly light like those heavenly beings on Touched by An Angel. Secondly it was not an angel of the Lord, but rather THE angel of the Lord. In the Old Testament whenever the phrase, "THE Angel of the Lord," is used it refers to Jesus Himself, before His incarnation...taking the form of an angel and visiting the earth. Now, if I didn't know the Lord better, I might think that He was mocking Gideon with the first words He spoke. In verse 12, He said, "The Lord is with you, Oh Valiant warrior!" Gideon was anything but valiant at this point. He was more of a cowardly, beleaguered victim.
One day a man came to his psychiatrist with a problem. He said, "Doctor, please help me. Everything's going wrong. I feel worthless. My friends tell me I have a terrible inferiority complex. Can you help me?" So the psychiatrist told him that he would give him some tests and evaluate him. A week later, the man came back and the psychiatrist said, "Friend, I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that we have proved you don’t have a complex. There is no doubt about that. The bad news is, you’re inferior."
Gideon was inferior-at least in the judgment of his peers-and he pointed this out to God. He said that he was of the tribe of Manasseh, which was the lowest and weakest tribe in all Israel. Then, he said that his family was the lowest and weakest family in the tribe of Manasseh. Further, he was the lowest and weakest member of his family. So, he was the lowest and weakest member of the lowest and weakest family of the lowest and weakest tribe of all Israel! You cannot get much lower than that. But to these excuses of inferiority, God gave a single reply, "I will be with you...."which brings us to the first principle of how to be a valiant warrior for God. You see, when it comes to the battles of life you must remember:
IT’S NOT IMPORTANT WHO YOU ARE, IT’S WHO YOU’RE WITH
God does not seek people who are the most outwardly capable, or the most naturally "strong." No, He intentionally works with the most unlikely material so that everyone can see the glory belongs to God and God alone. The apostle Paul marveled over this principle more than a thousand years later writing,
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong...as it is written, 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.” [I Corinthians 1:26-27, 31]
Time and time again as we read the Word of God, we see God cutting away a man's self-confidence to bring him to the place where he admits that he is totally inadequate to do or to be what God desires. There isn’t a single major figure in the Word of God whom God didn’t bring to realize a deep sense of his own inadequacy. And this is vital for truly valiant warriors.
Paul reminds us- "We are not adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves...our adequacy is from God." (II Corinthians 3:5)
The narrative says- "Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon." The Spirit of God wore Gideon the way a man puts on a suit of clothes, indwelling him, empowering him to do battle. You and I must remember this principle if we are to be effective soldiers in God's army! A good approach for us would be to daily say to God, "Lord, here I am. I want to be your suit of clothes today. I want you to take me and use me. Lord, just walk around in me today." This a great philosophy for us to embrace, for our strength, and our sufficiency for victory doesn’t come from ourselves but from God.
Our key to victory is God's indwelling presence and power. We are nothing without God, no matter how strong or talented we may be. In this army, it doesn't matter who you are. It matters Who you are with or Who is with you! To what extent have you allowed the promise of God's adequacy to minister to your life? God Himself has committed to be with you and to pour His strength into you. Remember your weakness does not hinder God. In fact, II Corinthians 12:9 says that,
"His strength is made perfect in weakness."
IF YOU AND I WANT TO BE VICTORIOUS IN LIFE WE MUST DECIDE WHICH GENERAL WE’LL FOLLOW.
The first assignment that God gave Gideon was not to attack the Midianites but to assault the idol worship of his people.
The reason the people of Israel were weaken and unable to defend themselves was that they had chosen to worship and put their faith in something other than the true God. They were following the wrong "general!" And many times we are weak because we make the same mistake. We feel overwhelmed because we worship things other than God. We have divided loyalties. This is what Jesus was warning us of when He said,
"No man can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other." (Matthew 6:24)
And this, Gideon's first battle was probably his toughest because in his own backyard there was a vivid example of the reason God had allowed Midian to overwhelm and enslave Israel.
Joash, Gideon's father, had apparently built an altar to Baal on his property and with it an Asherah, a wooden pillar representing the Canaanite goddess of fertility. And it was not just for the family's private use. It obviously served as the village shrine with Joash acting as the supervisor of pagan worship in the area. God told Gideon to take a young bull and a seven-year-old bull and use them to tear down the massive altar to Baal. Then he was to cut down the wooden Asherah and, using that wood, he was to build a fire on which to sacrifice the seven-year-old bull on a new altar which he was to build for the Lord. God gave Gideon this task so that he could learn that before Midian could go, Baal had to go.
God would tolerate no rivals. Truly great soldiers in God’s army only follow one commander.
People notice how committed we, who claim to be Christians, are to God. Gideon's neighbors certainly noticed the results of his actions that night. In fact the next morning when they saw what he had done they demanded his death but his own father came to his defense and said … "Hey....if baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar!" The neighbors agreed and they gave Gideon a new name, "Jerub-baal" which literally means "let baal contend-let him fight for himself."
From that moment on, every time the people of Israel looked at Gideon, they had visible proof of the weakness of baal and the power of God. This valiant warrior helped them to see the importance of following only the one true God.
OUR FOLLOWING HIS ORDERS ARE IMPORTANT TO GOD
This was a learning process for Gideon. From the beginning he had a lot of trouble trusting the commands and promises of God. Even after he gathered his army he was afraid and you may remember he tested God. It wasn't that Gideon was trying to discover God's will. He already knew what God's will was for his life. Prior to his fleece Gideon said to God, "If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have said." You see, God had made His will perfectly clear. Gideon didn't lack information about the will of God; He lacked confidence to trust the Word of God. Gideon's real struggle was one of faith, not information. This is an important lesson for all Christians to learn for as Hebrews 11:6 says,
"Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Note that God is gentle with Gideon. God graciously helps build Gideon's faith. First Gideon put a sheep skin on the ground and asked God to make only the fleece wet with dew and the ground dry and God did this. But that wasn't enough to build Gideon's confidence. You can almost see his mind at work. He thinks, "Maybe this isn't as amazing as it seems...after all, it would be more likely for the water to be absorbed by the wool than the ground.
Maybe the fact that the wool is wet and the ground is dry would have happened anyway. It's not really as sign of anything." So, he makes a second request of God: "Will you reverse the process -- and make the ground wet and the fleece dry?" Gideon's response here points out how inadequate fleeces can be when used as a method for discovering God's will. The results are difficult to interpret.
I read about a Bible school announcing that it was planning to buy a building. They said, "If we have $100,000 by this date, we will know it is God's will. We will know that God wants us to do it." On the appointed day, they had only $90,000 and now they had a problem; should they buy the building or not? And if it was not God's will, where had the $90,000 come from? Was it Satan's money? Of course not. But the fallacy was that they had expected God to do His work in their way.
Do you see the weakness in this practice? It tends to limit God...it puts Him in a box. Litmus tests like this are always difficult to interpret. Fleeces aren't the best way to find the will of God. We don't need to cast fleeces to experience God's guidance. We’re liable to be “fleeced.” He has given us His written Word to help us find His will...and His presence to help us understand and do it. In Psalm 73:23-24 the psalmist rejoices in this truth saying to God,
"You have taken hold of my right hand. With Your counsel You will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory."
The amazing thing about this isn’t what it shows about Gideon's fleece, but what it teaches us about God's patience. Gideon was a special student in God's "slow-learner class." God had done so much in his life already but Gideon was still saying, "If you're really going to do what You say...do this or that." But God kept on loving and working with him. I thank God for that because I too am one of God's slow learners. Many times in my life I have had to pray, "I believe...but not quite enough...help my unbelief.”
Over and over I have learned to be thankful that God is,
"Slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness; maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." Exodus. 34:6-7.
IF WE FOLLOW GOD, GET READY FOR “GOD-SIZED” BATTLES.
The Midianites had a force of 135,000 men with them when they invaded Israel in this 8th harvest season. They camped in the Valley of Jezreel, and they came fully expecting to carry out their usual policy of an uncontested stripping of the land and a triumphant return to their desert home. But this time there was a difference. God had raised up a man who was prepared to lead Israel against these camel-riding carpet baggers. Empowered by the Spirit of God, Gideon marched his army of 32,000 men to the hills of Mt. Gilboa.
The Midianites were armed to the teeth but Gideon and his men had virtually no weapons. Gideon and his men were no doubt wondering how they could possibly win against such a superior force. So imagine how Gideon felt when God said that he had too many troops and that all those who were afraid should return home? Interestingly, 22,000 took him up on this offer!
After the 22,000 left, God said that was still too many so He instructed Gideon to watch his men drink and send everyone home who bent their faces down to drink water from the stream directly. Only 300 stood up alertly, ready for battle, the water cupped in their hands.
So in a short span of time God had taken an overwhelming situation and made it impossible. It would seem that defeat was going to be snatched from the jaws of victory. The original 32000 had no chance of winning against the hordes of the Midianites and their superior weaponry but for 300 it was laughable. God chose less than one percent of the group that Gideon began with to fight. They were outnumbered 450 to 1. God isn’t interested in simply giving His people victory. He’s concerned with teaching us trust.
Our victories make us self-reliant, which is worse, far worse, in the long run, than losing! That night I don't think Gideon slept too well. Would you? 300 against 135,000! That's like a football team composed of junior high school girls going up against Super Bowl champions! God of course knew how Gideon felt so He told him, "If you are afraid to go down against the Midianites, let me help you."
A DREAM CHANGES EVERYTHING
God knew the anguish Gideon was going through so He invited Gideon to go to the camp of the Midianites. Gideon obeyed and was accompanied by a young boy, named Purah. They snuck in close enough to hear Midianite sentries talking about a dream in which a barley loaf flattened a tent. The Midianites were nomadic so the tent clearly represented them. And barley was most often used as animal food, but it was all that the Israelites had left because of the better foodstuffs had been taken. So, the barley loaf clearly represented Israel. The Midianite said, "That barley bun is nothing less than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash. God has given Midian and all the camp into his hand."
As he listened Gideon no doubt sensed that the dream had been repeated throughout the whole army of the Midianites. They had been terrorized inwardly by the mysterious hand of God. So this huge army was already defeated. And at this point Gideon learned he greatest lesson of his life. He realized as he never had before, that it was not a battle between 300 Israelites and 135,000 Midianites. It was God who was fighting Midian and the 300 men were just His channels.
Gideon went back to his little band of men and said, "Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands." He divided his army into three groups of 100 and as they departed they were given their weapons.
Here is what was issued to them: a clay jar, a trumpet, and a torch. No shields, no spears, no swords. Gideon had his “few good men” to surround the camp and then waited until the middle watch had just been posted. That was about 10:30 pm when some of the men had been asleep for three or four hours and were now in their deepest sleep. The men who had just been relieved from guard duty would still be moving through the camp, and the men who had just gone on duty would still be rubbing their eyes.
Suddenly there was a huge noise all around them. The rams' horns were signaling an enemy attack! Then the clay pitchers smashed on the ground sounded like the armor of armies clashing into one another. The Midianites looked up and they were surrounded on three sides by lights and torches. Finally a great shout shattered the silence "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon."
In all the confusion, the camels stampeded and in the chaos that resulted, the panicked Midianites began to slaughter one another. To the half-asleep men, everything that moved became an enemy. Every shadow was an Israelite. All this time, Gideon's men didn’t move. They stood in their place blowing their trumpets, waving their torches and shouting their slogan, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon." By they way, they only had one "sword"-the sword of the Lord-and that is all they needed!
God still calls His troops into battle against overwhelming odds but sadly many Christians only want to do things they can do. Just like Gideon, fear keeps us from victory. Fear stops us dead in our tracks. So we go on living a defeated existence until the pain of defeat becomes too much for us to bear.
Then some of us like Gideon find the faith to break through seemingly unconquerable fear and take an honest shot at victorious life in God.
Why is Gideon in Hebrews 11? In the midst of a backslidden people he rerouted his doubts. He accomplished something for God strictly by faith!
Gideon defeated the powerful Midianite army with only 300 soldiers-Just a few good men!
Blessings,
John
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