Signal First-Go Get'em Gideon-Week 3

Signal First

Have you ever wanted to do something or known you needed to do something; however never moved forward to get it done? It probably was because you, like the rest of us, waited for a sign. My biggest hold-up in moving forward has always been not seeing the sign or signs signaling the time was right. In this place of waiting, I get comfortable and even complacent. I begin to not look for the signs, or worse, ignore them. Other times I see the signs that say “Go!” I acknowledge, then turn and ask God for more signs.

When Gideon was face to face talking to the angel of God, he witnessed the offering he made burn up with a touch of the angel’s staff (Judges 6:20-21). After a brief panic over his own mortality, he asked for more signs to be certain it was really God. God commanded him to tear down his father’s Asherah pole and make it into an altar. As Gideon goes forward, God protects him and his servants while they carry out the command (Judges 6:25-27).

It is after this exchange that God sets Gideon on the path to free the Israelites from Midianites and Assyrians who have been attacking them and leaving them with no means to live by. Once again, however, Gideon needs a sign; in fact, he asks for more than one. Gideon proposes, “…I will place wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and the ground is dry, then I will know you will save Israel by my hand…” Sure enough, there was a bowl full of water and yet the ground was dry (Judges 6:36-38). Still not convinced (or maybe stalling in his complacency) he asks for another sign: “Please allow me one more test with the fleece...” Sound a bit familiar?

Ok, so we don’t have Asherah poles, but we have witnessed times in our lives and the lives of others when God has guided and protected when His prompt was followed. Yet, when the next task comes around and God prompts us toward; what do we do? We wait for a sign. Rarely does God ask us to do anything as drastic as taking on a whole army with only 300 untrained soldiers, yet we seek more signs. The Bible has many examples of his people asking for signs beyond Gideon; Moses did even as he stood talking to the burning bush (Acts 7:30) and Rahab asks the spies for a sign (Joshua 2:12). Asking and looking for signs is not the problem per say, the challenge is knowing when God is waiting for us to …signal first…by saying “Yes God, I’m ready”.

Written by Christian Love