Gideon

The Coward Who Became A Leader

READ Judges 7

When the film director Steven Spielberg showed his film Schindler’s List to composer John Williams, Williams was so taken by the power of the movie that he told Spielberg he would need a better composer for the film’s score. Spielberg responded to Williams by saying, “But they’re all dead”—no better composer was available!^*

Sometimes a task falls upon your shoulders, and even though you don’t feel equipped, you’re the one called to do it. Such was the case with Gideon. Gideon was one of the judges God selected to lead his people as they fought enemies in the land of Canaan. God commissioned Gideon to lead Israel in a fight against their powerful enemies, the Midianites.

However, at the beginning, Gideon looked like anything but leadership material. His story began during a time when the Midianites were terrorizing the people of Israel, destroying crops and killing livestock. Gideon was first introduced threshing wheat in a winepress. Since that may not mean anything to you, let me offer some context. Threshing wheat usually involved tossing it into the air so a breeze could blow away the lighter chaff, leaving the heavier grain behind. Which means a winepress, basically a pit, was a terrible place for the task—there is no crosswind down in a hole.

Gideon was not in the winepress because he was a terrible farmer. He was there because he was afraid of his enemies. It was this moment, with Gideon looking utterly weak and fearful, that God’s angel appeared before him, saying, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Things certainly didn’t look that way!

Gideon’s journey from the winepress to faithful leadership was a process, one of slowly learning to see the world through God’s eyes rather than through his own doubts. At first Gideon resisted, but in the end God’s call upon his life prevailed. God was patient with Gideon’s faulty faith.

When the time came for Gideon to lead the fight against the Midianites, God didn’t make things easy. He told Gideon to send home any soldiers who were afraid of battle, and twenty-two thousand soldiers left the army. (It’s not hard to imagine Gideon wishing he was one of them!) But God told Gideon his army was still too large. God wanted to leave no doubt that Israel’s victory was due to God’s own miraculous power. After God pared down the size of Israel’s army a second time, Gideon was left with only three hundred soldiers. That was a paltry contingent compared to the hordes of their enemies.

On the eve of battle, Gideon was afraid. God encouraged him by letting him overhear a Midianite soldier tell another about a dream he had in which Gideon defeated them. Finally emboldened, Gideon armed his men for war—but not with weapons. Rather, he gave them each a trumpet and a torch hidden under a clay pot. The three hundred men surrounded the enemy camp while it was still dark, and at Gideon’s signal they smashed the pots to let the light from their torches shine brightly. They blew their trumpets and shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!” (7:20). God caused the terrified Midianites to turn on one another with their swords. Israel gained a victory with only three hundred men, shining torches, and loud trumpets.

There will be times when God asks us to trust him in the face of uncertain or unlikely circumstances. Like Gideon, our first inclination might be doubt, fear, and resistance. Yet, again and again in the Bible, God is patient with these human reactions. Gideon’s story is a reminder that we cannot always trust our own eyes or assumptions. God may surprise us, using very little for great purposes.

Sometimes you may feel you are not qualified for a task or a position. The reality is, there are no “super” Christians. Everyone is on an imperfect journey of following Christ. Christ himself reminds us that even a mustard seed of faith is enough to move mountains in God’s kingdom (Matthew 17:20). As Gideon’s army learned, it’s not our own qualifications but God’s power that makes a difference.

What makes you feel doubt or fear in your walk of faith? When do you feel like you aren’t “good enough” to be used by God? Let Gideon’s story be an encouragement to you. God is patient. He knows your doubts and fears. Your hope is not in what you can or can’t do on your own. It is in God’s faithful patience to develop you and work through you.