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

Bravery-Go Get'em Gideon-Week 2

Bravery

When I consider the ways in which God is growing me I am always brought to tears. Not just itty bitty glistening tears that fall softly around the wrinkles of my eyes. No, I am talking about floodgate tears, the ones in which I am humbled by the mercy and grace bestowed upon me. Like Gideon, I have found myself hiding in a cave not wanting to deal with events, troubles or my own version of Midianites. And like Gideon, I have called out to God to “fix” things. And of course, my response mirrors that of Gideon “not me, I am not worthy, I am a no one from a no one family from a no one clan, you have the wrong guy.” (Judges 6:15 paraphrase) And there my friends is the lie that I keep telling myself: not me- there is someone better. God wouldn’t use me in powerful ways. Like Gideon, I am hesitant to believe that God can use me. Yet, Yahweh gently stirs in my soul and says “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judges 6:16) There is a call to action, a call to answer and even through my tearstained eyes I see a call to be brave.

However, the next thing in Gideon’s story is not what I expect. There is simply an exchange in which Gideon needs clarification that he is indeed speaking with the Angel of the Lord. This dialogue only lasts as long as it takes for Gideon to prepare an offering. When he is satisfied that he is indeed speaking with the Angel of the Lord, Gideon accepts his calling. Call it dotting his i’s and crossing his t’s but Gideon is getting his house in order. How many times have I allowed my sarcastic mouth, fiery temper and short fuse to rush in instead of waiting on the Lord? The answer, too many to count! There is something about Gideon we can misunderstand here at this juncture- he may appear reluctant, Yet, when we truly look at his character we may find that he is thoughtful, diligent and brave.

In contrast to Gideon, I tend to be headstrong, temperamental and short-sighted. I am a mess held together by scotch tape and the Holy Spirit. I need to wrap caution tape around myself because of the disaster that I am. Please don’t misunderstand me, I deeply believe God can do a good work in me I just forget from time to time. I get so caught up in my shortcomings that I fail to recall that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)  And this is where I find myself similar to Gideon. There is a boldness that we see in Gideon. Gideon and 10 of his servants tear down the altar to Baal despite being built by his own father. Gideon destroys the altar, cuts down the Asherah Pole and builds a proper altar just as the Lord commanded. (Judges 6:25) Gideon does this work during the night, he is afraid. He is concerned with the consequences but not consumed by them. He is afraid yet he completes the task set before him by the Lord. He is brave.

The definition of the word brave is this: ready to face and endure danger or pain: showing courage. Nowhere in the definition does it say brave: the absence of fear. You cannot be brave if there is nothing to be scared of. There needs to be a catalyst for our bravery. An opportunity to glorify God in what we have taken a risk for. An opportunity to step out of the cave and face the situation at hand. Gideon did just that, he was ready when the people discovered his handiwork the next morning. God sets before us missions, tasks and opportunities to use our gifts. He takes us as we are and transforms us when we are obedient to the call. God finds us in our doubt, our reluctance, our apathy and transforms us. He does that for me. I offered my headstrong nature and God gave me humility. I repented (and continue to) my temper God gifted me with a discernment I have never known before. Like Gideon, I know God is mighty. I know that it does not matter the backstory of my birth or if I am the least in my family. What matters is who am I to God and the purposes I can serve when I am obedient to His calling on my simple life. My simple life that mirrors an innate boldness.

Answering God’s call to live an audacious life has transformed me into a person who forgives deep hurts and grudges. I trust God with my marriage, with my children, and with my health. I surrender my life to God’s will and then I bravely confess my inability to stay in that posture of surrender. I am a work in progress. My story is still being written. I am still a mess with my caution tape and tears. I keep a box of kleenex by my bedside because some days the act of getting out of bed is an act of bravery. And that’s what brave people do, we get out of bed. 

-Dea Braaten

Stuck-Go Get'em Gideon-Week 1

Stuck

Have you ever been afraid? I don’t mean the jump back scream because something jumped out at you afraid. I mean the hunker down, incapable of taking any action kind of afraid.  This fear can come from a whole host of sources:  Changing jobs or positions, moving, looking at the piling up bills, or facing conflict.  While there are times of danger where fear is a natural and proper response, more common is the fear that is simply false and debilitating.

Recently I came across a piece of driftwood at a local beach that served as an image for me of what happens when this false “fear” (False Evidence Appearing Real) is allowed to go unchecked.  In the roots of the downed tree was an affixed rock about the size of a fist.  When I say affixed, I mean so stuck that after years of drifting in water and baking on the beach it was still unmovable.  This is what these false fears can do to us.  We cling so firm to our safety that we too become stuck and immovable.  While in these times of fear we can make the best excuses, we deny that we are stuck, and even worse, look to blame others or God.

Gideon was stuck in fear.  He was so afraid of the Midianite raiders that he was threshing wheat in a winepress.  The task of threshing wheat is meant to be done in the wind where the chaff is separated and blown away, so we see Gideon was in hiding.  He wasn’t the only one; his whole people, the Israelites, were stuck.  Stuck in their fear of the invaders was only a superficial fear.  It is not that the invaders were not a real threat, but they were not truly the source.  The real source was that God had given the Israelites what they wanted; to be left alone.

While working in the winepress, “The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’” (Judges 6:12 NIV).  Gideon does exactly what we usually do; he challenges the angel. “If the Lord is with us, why has this happened to us? Where are all his wonders…” (Judges 6:13) and so on.  Gideon, like us, wants to put the blame on anyone other than himself, even God if he must.  He even goes so far to accuse God of “abandoning” them, as if to say, ‘why don’t you do something Lord?’  Gideon was stuck, he did not like it, but he felt safe and was more willing to defend the perceived safety than to deal with the real issue.

That is when God turns the mirror on Gideon, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel…. Am I not sending you” (Judges 6:14).  This is not enough for Gideon though, and first makes excuses “Who am I Lord?” and “My clan is too small and weak” (Paraphrase Judges 6:15).  Even when God promises: “I will be with you,” Gideon still wants more proof, testing God time and time again. “Will you stay here while I go get a food offering?” (Judges 6:17-18), then again later testing the Lord with fleece and dew; not once but twice (Judges 6:36-39), as if to say, “prove it”.

How many times do we do what Gideon does?  We blame other people, outside circumstances, and even God for the messes we have gotten ourselves into.  We become so embedded in our perceived safe place, we refuse to deal with the thing we fear so we can have real peace and safety.  Is there any excuse we can think up that God cannot handle?  There is nothing we have done, nothing we can do, no place we can go, that God cannot save us from ourselves or the things we fear. “If God is for us what can stand against us?” (Romans 8:31).

In close, I ask again what is it you are fearing so much that you are, like the rock in the tree roots, stuck in a bad place that is just rotting away.  What excuses are keeping you there?  Who are you blaming? Recognize now that it is our job to get up and get going and trust that God is with us and will strengthen us. Now, I have a pile of bills to face and some career choices to make, but with God's help I know I will be strong enough.

-Christian Love