From the Pulpit: Just a farm boy
The challenge of faith that is seen in the book of Judges has always spoken to me. I have shared this study with our church family and hope that this glimpse into the life of Gideon challenges you also. Gideon is relatable because he sees himself as being just a normal person. He doesn’t see anything special about himself. But God does. When the angel of the Lord (an appearance of the preincarnate Christ) appears to Gideon, He greets him this way, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.”
Gideon shows his ordinary nature when he misses the point of the message and questions this heavenly visitor. The message from the angel of the Lord was, “The Lord is with you.” Gideon reinterprets the message in a broader context, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all of this happened to us?” The Lord then clarifies the message, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” That wasn’t enough for Gideon as he starts to raise objection as to why he could not do this. Have you ever felt like that? Like life is too big for you?
Too often we are like Moses, who is confronted by the Lord and still makes all kinds of excuses as to why he can’t do what God was calling him to do because life was too big for him. In Gideon’s case he responds to this huge challenge by asking for his first sign. In Judges 6:17 he says, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speaks with me.” He receives the sign and suddenly realizes that he had seen God face-to-face. His response is worship.
That was a major growth point in Gideon’s life. He changed from an ordinary farm boy who was threshing wheat in secret to a bold leader of men. When the Midianites and the Amalekites came together to attack Israel. the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon and he raised a mighty army to confront the oppressors. He still had his doubts before the battle began. He ended up asking twice for the sign of the fleece because he didn’t think that the men of Israel had a chance. He was still focused on his own strength. He makes that clear when he says in 6:37, “…then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand…” He was uncertain about whether God was going to carry through on His part of the battle. God went along with the sign of the fleece and dealt with it.
Gideon still had a lesson to learn. He thought that he was doing this in his own strength. So, God stepped in again. He told Gideon that his army of 32,000 men was too large. He ended up sending 22,000 men home. His army was still too large. So God told Gideon to take the remaining 10,000 men down to the river to watch how they drank the water. The result was that only 300 men were kept for the battle. There was no question that Gideon had to trust in the Lord for this battle.
God sent Gideon alone into the Midianite camp to hear how God had prepared the way for the battle. That gave Gideon the courage to obey. The result was a great rout of the vastly superior force. The hold that the Midianites had over Israel was broken that night.
As we look at life, it’s always a good idea to question ourselves about how big our God is who we serve. We are all just normal people who face different challenges and events. We have to remind ourselves that we don’t face them alone. We don’t face any challenges or battles in our own strength. Our great and powerful God is the one who goes before us and prepares the way for victory, whatever that might look like.
You will never face anything too big for God. I heard a message a long time ago that focused on this equation: 1 + God = a majority. We don’t need signs. We don’t need great courage. All we need is the faith to trust God and obey. Our God is big enough to overcome all of the struggles in our life… no matter how big they might be. Trust Him. He will overcome through you and for you.
