I might not know you personally, but I’m pretty sure that most of us are not flipping over to the Book of Judges on a regular basis. If I’m anxious or uncertain, I can’t say that Judges 6 is where I’m heading for comfort. But lately, as I look around at my own heart, and I hear the anxiety in my family and friends around me just as much as I hear in my own head, I think that taking a moment in the middle of the Old Testament, in this often-forgotten story, might remind me that every story in Scripture has a purpose for us — including Gideon’s.
Their history is laid out before us: Egypt, Exodus, Desert. Joshua, their leader, is dead and Israel is now known for doing evil things in the sight of the Lord. It’s a pretty broken place, and it has been for some time by the time we get to Gideon. Israel’s already been oppressed so many times before, and now because of their evil, “The Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel.” (Judges 6:2). Tough. And then, we read this, “Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Orphrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, ‘The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.’” (Joshua 6:11-12).
Okay, awesome, a man of valor! Sure, we find him literally hiding food out of fear, but who wouldn’t, right? This is the moment in any story where the hero enters the scene and changes everything. Except that’s just not who Gideon is. He is naturally nervous and uncertain. The following verses depict a conversation between him and God, going back and forth about whether he should do it, whether he can do it, and if he has to do it, can God prove it to him? The most interesting part of this entire story is that we’ve seen this happen before — Moses questioned God — and we’ll see it again in the New Testament. However, Gideon is the only one whose response from God has nothing to do with a rebuke and everything to do with encouragement. Gideon is not a man of valor and courage, but he will be, and that’s the man God is speaking to.
There are different types of fear. Sometimes, we doubt and drawback due to a lack of faith and trust, and at other times, we’re just tired and have nothing left. This is a bit of my own interpretation, but I think Gideon just had nothing left and had never been asked to be anything else but afraid. God, knowing the hearts of his people, responds by answering each test and question Gideon presents, and then he gives him one certainty, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” (Joshua 6:23). Cool I won’t die, but anything else goes?
God calls Gideon into some wild and scary circumstances. Gideon tears down the altar of a false god, watches as God sends away large numbers of his army and then prepares to face their enemy with a very small number of men. Along the way, I wonder how many times Gideon remembered those first words of God, “Man of Valor.” I won’t spoil the whole story for you because you should read it for yourself. However, I will tell you one thing does happen: Gideon witnesses the goodness of God, and he does become a man of valor. God truly doesn’t leave us where he finds us.
Fear is the companion that whispers that we need something other than God to be okay — reassurance, safety, peace. Mine is certainty and a long list of questions that demand an answer that I often can’t find. I think any of us who struggle with fear can find ourselves in the story of Gideon and be reassured that even when, and especially if, God is sending you into circumstances that challenge your courage and force you to move forward instead of drawing back, that we’ve all been weak before, but God is still the same God. I may never get the certainty I want but I have the certainty I need, and it’s found in Jesus. He goes with you into every battle.