How is your faith?

I was studying in the book of Judges yesterday. I was reading about the great man of God, Gideon. If you get a chance read chapters 6 and 7. When I think of Gideon, I think of how He and 300 men defeated Midian with trumpets and breaking jars! What a feat! God did an amazing thing here. But what I had for gotten is the lack of faith Gideon had. Here are some examples:



1. God told Gideon to destroy altars of Baal his father had built, He did but did it at night because he was afraid of family and men of town!

Judges 6:25-27



25 Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image[a] that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.



2. Gideon wanted God to give him a sign to show He would save Israel by his hand. Then He asked again after God did the first!



Judges 6:36-40



The Sign of the Fleece

36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.



3. Gideon was afraid and needed a sign to go against Midian, God provided!



Judges 7:9-14



9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, 11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”

14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”



Now I give Gideon credit because he was growing in his faith as God gave him these signs:



Judges 7:15



15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”



As I read this about Gideon, I realize we all have weak times in our faith. As we grow in our faith we should be growing stronger and bolder for God has delivered us so many times! So this morning how is your faith? If God calls you right now to do something for Him are you ready to move? Would you need a sign from God? Questions we need to ask ourselves and then do as needed!



Tom