When God starts to take things away; he is teaching us to trust him more. Pay attention, and submit to him, and then expect the miraculous. This is what stood out to me in my recent Bible reading time. I’ve been reading about Gideon, who I am excited to read about. I honestly don’t recall reading up on him much in the past. It’s always more exciting to get into an unfamiliar part of the Word of God for myself because I get so excited about what God will show me.
Anyhow, Gideon had been in conversation with the Lord. That is how he ended up at a place where God was going to deliver the Midianites into Gideon’s hand, but Gideon had too many men for God to do so. God told Gideon he had to let several men go or else they’d be able to take his glory. God wanted it to be clear that he was the deliverer and not man.
After several men left Gideon that had been afraid; the men were still too many. God continued to eliminate men from Gideon’s army leaving only 300. It was with the 300, God promised to deliver the Midianites into Gideon’s hand. That is when the miraculous began to happen.
One, our communication with God goes to a new level. Communication with the Lord got Gideon to a moment of seeing God move in a unique way. Not only communication but submitting to God and following him. Actually, walking with God gets us to where we need to be. So many times, we attempt to follow the crowd of Christians, or pastors and leaders without seeking God for ourselves. I firmly believe we can miss out on some experience with God if we do not seek him for ourselves.
Two, our ability to endure becomes more resolute. Gideon did not quit when God began to remove what would have made him comfortable. Having tens of thousands of men in an army to fight with us while going to war is a strong form of security and protection. With such help, why should we deeply concern ourselves with trusting in the Lord? God is aware of this, and often creates discomfort and insecurity inducing awareness of our need to depend on him.
Three, We can only see the miraculous when we do so. Gideon was naturally afraid in a new situation of war. All of his security within the many men who were with him was stripped away. God saw Gideon’s fear and encouraged him to go down to the enemy’s camp with a servant of his. Gideon went down. At that point, he overheard one of the enemies of Israel, a Midianite, share about a dream he’d add. The dream entailed the Israelites overcoming the Midianites led by Gideon. God used Gideon’s enemy to show him the end. After this occurred, Gideon instructed his men to overtake the Midianites yelling a sword for the Lord and Gideon. The Midianites became so afraid that they began to fight each other.
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