Something is going to happen tonight.”
The men of the midnight watch shuffle nervously in their place, scanning the darkness for a sign of life, the light of a fire, anything to convince them that their fears are unfounded. There has been unrest in the camp since rumours began circulating about a dream of a round loaf of barley bread tumbling into the tents, causing chaos in its wake. In these tense times, the dream can mean only one thing. The sword of Gideon, son of Joash, is about to come upon them.
A sudden flaring of torches in the darkness accompanied by a piercing cacophony of trumpet blasts washes over the Midianite stronghold.
Gideon is here.
The perfect recipe for humble pie
What was it that made Gideon special? At first, the answer certainly isn’t clear.
While Gideon’s actions have led to him being known as a mighty man of valour, he spends most of his time in great fear and distress. Indeed, when we first meet him, Gideon is in the midst of swallowing a large serving of humble pie.
“The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Oprah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ’The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’.”
In the Old Testament, specific details are of extreme importance. Limited description is given unless those details are imperative to the narrative or the spiritual emphasis of the story. The imperative detail we are given during the opening of the story is that Gideon is hidden inside a winepress. Gideon does not receive the word of God on a lofty mountain top, in a dazzling temple or any other place of grandeur. He receives the word of God in the midst of the lowest point in his life, huddled in a winepress, desperately trying to keep what little he has from being taken away from him.
How often have we found ourselves in a similar situation? Hiding ourselves away from friends and foes alike, holding tight to the shreds of hope we still have left? It’s during these trying times that we are truly humbled.
Personal lessons in humility
While I may not have been huddled in a winepress, when my final year of high school began, I was, nonetheless, hiding. For years I’d been confidently proclaiming my desire to become a museum curator. I had chosen all the right subjects and was excited about the future. But every time I shared this desire with others, a look of confusion would wash over their features, and most of them would then say, “Strange, I always thought you’d make a really good teacher.”
After a while I began to sense that there was more to these interactions. Some strange feeling, which today I believe to have been the influence of the Holy Spirit, encouraged me to speak to God about it. Like Gideon, my close experience with God didn’t happen in a grand or mighty way, but through a short prayer I uttered while navigating my church carpark. “Lord, if you really want me to be a teacher then please send someone to ask me about teaching at church today.” I didn’t even make it out of the carpark before I received the exact sign I’d asked for. Message received. The next day I printed an early entry form for Avondale University’s teaching course and the rest, as they say, is history.
While this may not seem like a major event, for me, this call from God shifted the whole course of my life, and when I sat down to write about Gideon, I found I had a lot in common with this unexpected hero. Like Gideon, my call from God was an incredibly humbling experience, testing whether or not I would make good on my many promises to follow His will in my life. Like Gideon, I didn’t want to take the call at face value and prayed for a sign that this was really what He wanted for me. Like Gideon, I wasn’t certain that I was going to be able to measure up to God’s plan.
Go in the strength you have
Many capable men existed in the time of Gideon, but the entire Old Testament is proof that while prideful and powerful men have their place, God sees the power of a person filled with humility. After all, Saul was the tallest and strongest of all the Israelites, but it was a shepherd boy who trusted God enough to fight the giant. Joseph was in prison for years but became second only to the Pharaoh in the span of a day.
“If you walk in humility of mind before the Lord, then He can work with your efforts, and His strength will be made perfect in your weakness,” (Ellen White, 5T 586).
Later, as Gideon prepares his forces to fight the Midianites, the need for humility becomes even greater.
“Then the Lord said to Gideon, You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me’” (Judges 7:2). And again, “The Lord said to Gideon, ’There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there’” (Judges 7:4).
A more prideful man would have given up when the odds kept stacking against them. But Gideon’s humility allowed God to work through him. As someone who has had to eat a lot of humble pie, I have seen the incredible things that God can do with a person who is willing.
“But what if I am not ready to face the task God has given me?” you may ask. “What if the job is just too big?”
Gideon asked many of his questions, and the answer God offered him as just as applicable to us today. “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?’” (Judges 6:15).
Whether we feel ready to accept the call or not, God is sending us to work mighty miracles in his name. He doesn’t ask for perfection, or even for full understanding, He simply requires us to go in the strength we have, and make the choice to trust Him with the rest.
Zoe Cochrane is a HSIE and English teacher at Maitland Christian School, NSW.
