Don't Leave Home Without Him

Gideon is threshing wheat, trying his best to keep his activities secret. If the Midianite oppressors discover what he is doing, they will destroy the crop and quite possibly punish his impudence.

The Israelites have cried out to God because of the seven years of suffering they have endured under the harsh hand of Midian. He heard those cries, sent a prophet to remind them that they brought all this on themselves because they had assimilated the local gods into their daily worship (Judges 6:10).

When the angel appears to Gideon, he greets the farmer with "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior" to which Gideon responds, "If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us…" (6:13, NIV).

I guess Gideon must have missed the sermon delivered by the prophet, or he hadn't received the memo. His own father had an image of Baal and an Asherah pole (6:25).

All that aside, when the angel tells Gideon to go and rescue Israel from her oppressors, there begins a lengthy conversation between the two. What struck me this morning was the beginning of that conversation.

"The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?'" (6:14, NIV).

Something about this statement didn't quite sit right with Gideon. The man immediately knew that he didn't have the strength to save himself, let alone Israel. It wasn't enough that God was SENDING him.

When Gideon acknowledges his weakness, the Lord responds this way: "The Lord answered, 'I will be with you…'" (6:16, NIV).

Gideon still had a few issues to resolve before he goes anywhere. But whether or not he was being intentional in how he drags his feet here as he looks for the assurance that God was doing more than simply sending him on his own, there is a lesson to be learned from this brief bit of conversation.

God never intended to simply SEND Gideon anywhere. His intention was always to go with Gideon and to work through Gideon to rescue Israel. But it was a good thing for Gideon to understand that, even though he had been sent by God, it was not going to be his own strength and savvy that won him the victory.

It's an easy mistake to make. It's possible to be sent by God and then leave Him behind as we race off to do God's will WITHOUT God.

Gideon's acknowledgment that his own strength was only weakness was the platform from which God could launch the powerful acts that He would do to rescue His people.

Like Moses (Exodus 33:15), Gideon knew that unless God went, there was no point in going.

Good plan.