Lessons From the Life of Gideon: Courage

It seems like when God calls us to step into the arena of conflict for His purposes that the odds are always against us. The stories of heroes of faith throughout the Bible seem to struggle with the same issues that we do today.

As I read about Abraham, Moses, Gideon, David and others who were called by God, I see that they too struggled with feelings of inadequacy and weakness that tainted their focus on the Lord God who has all power and authority in Heaven and on Earth.

When God called Moses, Moses told God he was not a good speaker. God replied, “‘Who gave human beings their mouths (Exodus 4:11)?’” When God called Gideon to lead, Gideon immediately said, “‘My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family (Judges 6:15).’”

But our Father is so patient and kind in dealing with our fear of identifying with Jesus Christ in the midst of a hostile world.

Our faith is very personal, but it was never intended to remain private.

No Christian that is in Jesus Christ has ever been called to be a spectator in the world. God’s call to all believers is to identify with Jesus as opportunities present themselves, both privately and publicly.

Gideon was just like all of us, and we can see the gentleness of our Father through His dealings with Gideon. Over and over again, Gideon tests God’s patience even though he received clear instructions from God. In His kindness, God hangs with Gideon through his fear and still uses him greatly.

We all fear when God says He wants us to follow Him into something scary or unknown. We all pull out our “what if” lists. The sooner we learn that it’s better to go with God than it is to play it safe, the more we will experience the joy of our relationship with the King of the universe.

Two principles constantly surface throughout the Bible about God’s people and His desire to use our brokenness to glorify Himself.

1. Go deep with Jesus.
2. Don’t play it safe.

God helped Gideon work through his fear to become a victorious man of courage. How many times have you heard of 300 men taking out an army of 120,000?

It’s Gideon’s life and legacy that we’ll dive into over the next few weeks to learn that God's purposes are always victorious. God knows when the odds are against us, and His faithfulness will always cover the call to action He has placed on each of us.

Always go with God! Because God plus nothing will always win in the end.

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