I was reading the Story of Gideon in Judges (Judges 6-8) And I have become very impressed by Gideon. I think I identify with Gideon more than any other Old Testament character.
We meet Gideon in Judges 6:11 chilling in the bottom of a wine press threshing grain. I had always seen this as a cowardly thing, hiding from the raiding parties of the enemy. But it specifically states he was trying to save the grain from the Midianites. He isn’t a coward, he is cautious with what God has given him.
The next big plot point in this story is Gideon asking for God to give him a sign that a fleece will be dry but the ground wet. To me this is wrong, asking for a sign is not trusting God. But He did trust God, he acted on the word of the Lord first, gathering Israel and then he asked for a sign. And he only asked for the signs because he was careful of what God had given him, this time 32,000 men.
Gideon was a leader and God was very specific what people He wanted to let serve Him. So God wanted to winnow the 32,000 men who gathered. 32,000 was too much because Israel would say they did it by their own strength (Judges 7:2). So all those afraid are given leave to go home. 22,000 leave. All of the 32,000 would have heard about Gideon’s tests with the fleece. The 10,000 that stayed shared a quality, faith. They believed that God would deliver them like He promised.
But these 10,000 are still too many and there was another quality God was looking for, readiness. Gideon has them all drink and most kneel down, put their heads in the water to drink. But 300 put their hands into the water and brought it to their mouth. Now imagine those two methods of drinking. One is almost laying down, and you can see nothing around you. The other is a much more alert posture, ready to move, able to see what’s going on.
300 men down from 32,000. That is less than 1% of those who came out to serve God that were able to. It challenged me to think, am I in that 1%? Am I one of the willing who is also able? Gideon is an incredible example of living out God’s call. He is careful with the charge God has laid on him. He listens and is ready to move. I am a careful person, generally slow to move until I am sure. I used to feel this was an undesired quality, I thought this was just fear, until I met Gideon. Until I realized I am in that 1%.
