MESSAGES FROM GIDEON - Part 5

All of the sudden Gideon receives a strong dose of the Holy Spirit and His confidence to marshal the troops.  Not only did Gideon gather up his own forces but local forces around him as well (Judges 6:34-35).  This was an all God moment, now back to Gideon.

The very next verse starts a section with Gideon requesting from the Lord two signs that God meant what He said about him being a warrior-leader.  God was gracious and merciful and answered his requests.

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. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew--a bowlful of water. 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. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. (Judges 6:36-40)

Yet another instance of not being confident.  This time Gideon was not stable in the specifics of the call (warrior-leader) that God had on his life. His dependency on signs was troubling to my spirit because I have been right there.

Take Away:  I believe depending on signs from God before you move on something in your life is situational.  This asking for signs, as Gideon did, should not happen every time one needs to make a major decision in life.  A sign for every major decision in life does not define the true nature of Faith.  "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)  If believers relied on signs all the time we would not move very far in life because God desires for us to learn and grow from life and each other.  A big part to this Faith Walk is prayer for leadership and guidance, obedience, steadfastness, and the rebuking of doubt.  The other huge factor in Faith is a life-long development process with God, it is called Trust.