Who Knows — Taking the Leap

"The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?'" — Judges 6:14

This week we continued our series on seven figures from the Bible with the story of Gideon. His is an interesting story, one that shows what can happen when you rely on God fully. But Gideon's story doesn't start out in that place.

Instead, Gideon is in a hole threshing wheat when God finds him. His people have been greatly oppressed and can't do things out in the open without fear of being attacked. In fact, many of them live in caves. And things aren't great. In fact, many of the people had forgotten God, and thought God had forgotten them.

In fact, Gideon said as much when the Angel of the Lord found him. In verse 13, he responded to the Angel with a litany of complaints. “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

I love Gideon's story for the reason I love so many stories in the Bible. We tend to think of these people from the Bible as pillars of faith, and they were. But they were also people, like us. When we read about the Disciples, the people who spent the most time with Jesus in person and saw first-hand who He was and what He could do, it's hard not to notice that they often struggled with doubt. Which is what makes them human.

In Gideon, too, we see a human response. He's working in a hole and life isn't great, so when an Angel appears and says the Lord is with him, it's hard for Gideon not to be annoyed. That's what we see in his response. But we also see God's response, which is patient and encouraging — like a parent trying to coax a child to reach their potential.

It wasn't the last time Gideon would question whether God was really with him. And it wasn't the last time God would prove He was right there all along. Gideon's story is short. It's three chapters in Judges, but it's moving and memorable. It's memorable for Gideon's varied responses to God, but also for the fact that, in the end, he stepped out in faith. With 300 men he attacked an army of 150,000 because God said they would be victorious.

Gideon was faithful, despite his doubts. And that's also part of what makes his story inspiring.

We all have moments of doubt. We all have moments of weakness when we feel we aren't enough. That's what it is to be human, and on our own we're not enough. But with God, all things are possible. Gideon's story is an example of that. We just have to be faithful enough to take the leap.