Can you be both a warrior and a coward?
Gideon was.
One of the more notable of the judges, we meet Gideon hiding in a winepress to thresh wheat. The Midianites had come up against the Israelites, yet again, and although Gideon was hiding, God looked on him favorably because he was doing SOMETHING. He might’ve been a coward, but he was still going, finding a way to thresh wheat when others had given up. Gideon had to thresh wheat because people had to eat. Among cowards, the one who won’t give up is a champion.
Gideon didn’t see himself as a champion. He was hiding, but God has a way of using the hidden. God found Gideon in an underground winepress, He found Abraham in a pagan land, He found Moses in exile, and He found David among the sheep. Here were men who were overlooked by the rest of the world being used by God to do extraordinary things. We know they did extraordinary things because history and the Bible saw fit to record their actions. By hiding, Gideon disqualified himself, but God didn’t disqualify him. See, when you disqualify yourself, God will call you by what He sees you. God addresses Gideon as a mighty man of valor! God called Gideon by what He saw him as. Preacher Girl, God calls you by what He sees you as. So, although you see yourself as defeated, He calls you undefeatable.
Gideon’s cowardice didn’t originate with him. It seems to have been passed down in his bloodline. Gideon’s father Joash was a wealthy man. In those days, in order to be successful in business, you needed to demonstrate your loyalty to Midianite gods. So, while secretly worshipping Adonai, Joash erected a statue of Baal and an Asherah pole. Joash was a chicken, afraid to stand up for his God. God told Gideon to go tear down those idols that his father had built. The Bible tells us that because Gideon was too afraid of his family and the men of the town, he tore the idols down at nighttime when no one would see him. He was scared but he did it anyway! PG, it’s okay to be afraid when God asks you to do something but do it anyway. Pastor Sharo has a saying: do it scared! What God asks us to do is often not comfortable. Consider this PG, if you’re not scared to do something, it may not be something God asked you to do.
After Gideon destroyed the idols, he took the debris and built an altar to Adonai. He took the sacrifices meant for Baal and offered it to God instead. God will transform what the enemy meant for harm into a means for your good and His glory. Once Gideon demonstrated his obedience, God made a way for him to become a champion, a warrior, and a deliverer of God’s people. His call on your life may not be an easy one, but you can count on Him to be with you every step of the way. Furthermore, your courage will encourage someone else to step up. Joash, after seeing what his son had done to the idols, grew himself a backbone. When the men of the city demanded that Joash surrender Gideon for punishment for destroying the statues, he replied that Baal, if he was a god, could defend himself. Today PG, what is the scary thing God is asking you to do? Whatever it is, do it scared.
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