From Fear to Faith by God’s Spirit.

Gideon moved from fear to faith as God empowered him for service. Learn how in the third of the series about Gideon by Brian Stapley.

Preparing Gideon

God is preparing Gideon to face a huge army with a handful of men. We can read about it in Judges, chapter 6.

“Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.” (Judges 6:33-34)

As Gideon is getting ready to act, God enables him to act by “clothing him with His Spirit”. Before being wrapped in armor, he needs to be wrapped in the Holy Spirit.  The result is electric – he acts boldly and has a dramatic effect on those around him.

He calls for his own clan – the Abiezreites – to join him, then Asher, Zebulon and Naphtali. The winepress hideaway is now a widespread hero. What has transformed Gideon from a fearful, hiding, self-defeating, God-complaining excuse-maker into this leader of thousands?

God Clothes us in His Holy Spirit

What happened to Gideon is helpful to us, if we have trusted Christ for salvation. First, Gideon met Jesus’ face to face, as the angel of the Lord.  We have met Jesus’ face to face in salvation; and we can meet with him each day to give us power for the day. Second, Gideon was temporarily clothed in God’s Spirit. As Christians, God has permanently clothed us with his Spirit. You and I can always count on that.

Judges 6:35 states –

“And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.” 

He has been authorized to act (v.14).  He has been empowered to act (v.34). He has already been given the promise of God’s presence (v.12).  Now he has the reality of God’s presence, and the people seem to sense it. Everything is solid between God and Gideon.  What happens next is completely out of whack with that bond between Gideon and God. He asks for further proof – miraculous proof – that God is with him.

God With Gideon

In Judges 6:36-37 we read,

“Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 

We barely get the story rolling toward the Midianite war when there is this interruption. If the reader was hoping for a quick battle scene, he just got fleeced. (Sorry for the pun.) 

The fleece is sometimes used as an example of God’s guidance, but Gideon’s fleece is not about guidance – it is about lack of faith. Gideon himself tells us, twice, that he doesn’t need God’s guidance, that he already knows God’s will: “You will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” (6:36) God had stated his will 3 times – in verses 12, 14 and 16. Gideon has not just met an angel to confirm these things – he had met God: Verse 27 states: “Gideon … did as the Lord had told him.”

As a Young Person

As a young person, I hear a lot about learning God’s will. I am finding out that God’s will is not just about what I do or where I am but who I am. Even if I am in the right spot – for example, in a church; and even if I am doing the right things – for example serving in Sunday School – if I am not the right person because I am not allowing God to form me by his Spirit and his Word, I will not be much good.

God’s focus is on our character. And so, He has been shaping Gideon to be the man he needs to be in the place called Jezreel valley … doing battle with Midianites. Hudson Taylor summed it up this way:

I want to be God’s man, in God’s place, doing God’s work, in God’s way. Hudson Taylor

Has God empowered you by His Holy Spirit? How do you know? Share with us. Contact us at HopeStreamRadio,  or comment below.