by Wesley Blackburn
When I first sat down to arrange entries and such for the entire e100 Challenge, I gave myself all the middle entries for the week since I normally blog on here on Wednesdays anyway. After I'd gotten more of the posts assigned, I took a look at some of the ones that I had gotten for "Wesley Wednesdays," and sure enough, I saw that this post was on here. I was excited, to say the least.
I just love the story of Gideon, and I think it's because he reminds me so much of myself. In this story, Israel's in dire straits. They're being absolutely oppressed by the Midianites. Their country is now a wreck... not at all what they had dreamed when they first possessed it under Joshua. Now, one day as Gideon works threshing some wheat, he is approached by an angel who says that God is with him.
Now the Bible doesn't specify, but I'm led to believe that there had to be something that indicated this man was an angel or some sort of being sent from God, as even Gideon sort of recognizes that in Judges 6:17. But Gideon shows no sign of reverence; he doesn't bow, he doesn't really offer any sort of greeting to this man beyond the typical polite address of the day. What does Gideon do? He questions. He doubts.
And these questions aren't just ones that were really nice, easy questions. No doubt, there was a little venom in them. On being told that God was with him, Gideon's first response was pure skepticism: "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, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt'" (Judges 6:13)? As I read that verse, I sensed real anger. Real bitterness. Gideon was mad at God for seemingly abandoning them and letting all of this bad stuff happen to him and his people. But I see myself in those questions too: God, if You're really with me, if You're really true to Your promises, then why does my life seem to be falling so far short of that? When God doesn't act in the ways I think He should or expect Him to, I become just like Gideon... bitter, brokenhearted, and hurt.
After some more dialogue, Gideon still refuses to believe that this man is a messenger from God until he sets a rock on fire. Probably again, just like me.
But then, the story gets even crazier. In verse 25, we discover that in Gideon's household, there are actually places of worship dedicated to two of the major pagan gods of the day. While Gideon's father still probably believed in the God of his fathers, he had these other gods around just in case. Furthermore, it wasn't uncommon for an entire household to worship the same god or gods, so if you ask me, it's very possible that Gideon himself had engaged in the worship of these gods. God's not exactly a big fan of other gods (see the Ten Commandments), and He especially hates it when people worship them. Yet, this doubting, skeptical, other god worshipping guy named Gideon was the man God chose to accomplish His purposes for the nation of Israel.
Later on, God is now getting ready to send Gideon into battle against Israel's enemies. Before the battle, Gideon wants to make absolutely sure that God is going to follow them into battle. So instead of just taking God at His word (yes, the same God who sent him an angel, set a rock on fire, and somehow stopped Gideon from being killed after tearing down some town places of worship to other gods), Gideon has to do one more test, so he lays a fleece out on the ground and says that if God will make it have dew while the ground around was dry, He'd believe God. God does the exact thing Gideon does, and what does Gideon do? He DOUBTS. He needs God to confirm again, so this time He asks God to do the reverse of this miracle, and finally, Gideon decides to march into battle.
Did I say that I see a lot of myself in this guy? Talk about doubt. Talk about paranoid double-checking. Talk about skepticism. Talk about fear. He's got it all... just like me.
But sure enough, God uses this doubting, skeptical, paranoid, sinful man named Gideon to win a miraculous battle. I don't know why God chose Gideon in particular. Maybe he was just the best guy around at the time (scary thought), or maybe there was some other reason that I'll never know on this side of eternity. But what I do know is that the story of Gideon gives me hope. God uses doubting, disbelieving, struggling, paranoid people just like me to do His will in big ways. What's more, he turns people like this into heroes of the faith, even though if you keep reading the story of Gideon, you discover he actually doesn't do a great job of leading God's people. In fact, in a lot of ways, he led them into more destructive idolatry later on in his life. Yet Gideon's name is listed in the famous "Hall of Faith" chapter in Hebrews 11.
God can use anyone... even Gideon. Even me. Even you.
And God is patient... with Gideon. With me. With you.
It's simply up to us to be faithful in the end and trust for God to take care of the rest. That's the lesson I learn from Judges 6 and 7.
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