I am fascinated by the story of Gideon. The somewhat reluctant and unexpected judge (leader) of Israel who led the revolt of his people against the Midianites…who had conquered and was oppressing Israel. I do not plan to repeat the whole story here…you can read it for yourself in the book of Judges chapters 6 thru 8.
The part of the story that I have been pulled towards this week is the fleece. Gideon wanted to know if God really had his back. In the sixth chapter of Judges, it says in verse 34 “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon” and he prepared a motley army for battle against the vast warriors of Midian. But Gideon wanted to know if God would give him success. “Gideon said to God, ‘If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor….then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.’” Verse 36. [He is referencing the angel of the LORD who had come to him (as seen in verse 14) and said “‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midair’s hand. Am I not sending you?’”] As we can read in verse 38, what Gideon asked God to do, He did. But this wasn’t enough. “Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece….’” (verse 39).
Was God angry with Gideon for asking these questions? For wanting/needing confirmation of guaranteed success? I think the answer is clear. No He wasn’t. I think we paint God so often with a ‘but your will be done, God’ to our requests and leave a question mark whether He will give us success. And if we look deep, the ultimate question is…whether He has our back.
I have talked to several people in different situations recently who are seriously asking these questions. And while I don’t think God is angry with us for asking these questions, I think this story of Gideon is a perfect example for us those times when we really DO doubt God. What a thought it is that, if God promises success to us, we can count on success! But we do need to think this idea through; this isn’t a just a guarantee that God will make us successful. Let’s follow the sequence.
First, this request was for success for a plan that God put into action and was directing. God had actually sent the angel of the LORD to Gideon to pronounce that Gideon was the man for the job. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 127:1 “Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” This plan we are requesting success for must be one that God Himself has ordained.
Second, what was the situation. Israel was being terrorized by the Midianites. But go back to the beginning of the story, chapter 6 verses 1 and 6.
“Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites…. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.”
So not only must the plan be God’s but it will also be for His purpose, for the good of his people. Now the fact that God gave his people over to be oppressed is a whole other topic [see post on ‘The biggest Lie’]. But we are not talking a small plan, like ‘what should I be when I grow up?’ or ‘who should I marry’…not that God does not care about those, because He absolutely does [see ‘Small things’]…but when we are asking the Almighty God for success we need to realize that there IS a big plan in place, that God’s will WILL be done, and that He is asking us to step out in faith, even if it’s a big step.
And third, we need to realize that just because God says ‘yes’ to our fleecy questions, this does not mean we know how this is going to play out. Here Gideon was assured success against an army estimated of 200,000 with his army of just over 30,000…and what did God do? He whittled down Gideon’s group until it was 300. I guarantee that this was NOT how Gideon saw this playing out. How often do we feel like God has answered our prayers, and then we get upset when the ‘army’ of supporters turns into a motley crew and the swords we thought we’d be fighting with turn into torches and horns? But through all the changes the LORD made to Gideon’s ‘plans’ for success we do not hear any further doubts or questions of the LORD. No matter how alone Gideon had to have felt, how silly he thought he had to have looked, he kept on moving forward ASSURED of God bringing him success.
Has God given you a dream? Has he given you a plan? It IS ok to ask God to assure you of success. Even a couple of times. But then, when your fleece is dry or damp, you must take on the courage of Christ and move forward, even if His directions then leave you feeling silly.
We can read the story of Gideon and then, with confidence, we can shout ‘“A sword for the LORD and for Gideon’” and “hold [our] position” (verses 20 and 21) and watch the plan of God move forward to success.
