Gideon’s fleece

On February 13, 2017 I recently decided to read through the Old Testament of the Bible as the last time I can remember reading through the whole Bible was when I was a teenager.  I should admit that for the most part, I had found the Bible to be not very interesting.  I liked reading fictional or true stories that catch my imagination or excite me.  For the past couple of years I have been reading a portion of the Torah (which is the first five books of the Bible) with my hubby every Saturday.  The Torah portions allow us to read the Torah once every year when following the weekly schedule.

When I first started doing this with my husband after we got married, I was mildly interested in it.  As these couple of years have gone by, I’ve started to anticipate reading the Torah on Saturdays.  I think part of it was that it took me a few years to really understand what the Bible was saying.  Often when we are not able to understand something, it can become boring, or frustrating to read.

I also started to realize that the Bible had a lot more stories than I realized, and they could be just as exciting as many of my fictional books.  I thought since I’ve been reading the first five books of the Bible regularly, why not continue reading more of the Old Testament?

I had heard the story of Gideon in the Bible many times, but it was not until this week that I read it for myself that I understood that Gideon was an everyday man.  I read about him in Judges chapters 6 to 8.  God chose Gideon to be a leader of the Israelites.  He was an unsuspecting man that was from the weakest tribe of Manasseh and was the least in his family.

Gideon wasn’t the confident type, and was telling God about that, but God saw a warrior inside of him.  He reminded me of myself in a lot of ways.  He was nervous about winning the battle against the Midianites and asked God to show him a sign that he would win the battle with God’s help.  Gideon asked God to let the fleece be wet and the ground be dry by the morning, then it would be a sign that Israel would win the battle.  Gideon found it that way in the morning.  He still felt nervous about winning the battle, so he asked God for one more sign for the fleece to be dry this time and the ground to be wet in the morning.  When Gideon woke up the next morning God had showed His sign again to Gideon.

For some people it may seem strange that God would use someone who isn’t the strongest, or most confident person in the tribe to win His battle, but I think God was showing us that anyone can do anything with God by their side.  It gives me hope to know that I don’t have to do everything alone, especially when I am doing a hard task.  God will always be there with you in everything.  He will strength us when we are weak.  The other amazing thing is that when God calls us to do His work it doesn’t matter at what level we can do things, as when we follow what He says things will happen.

Patricia <3 J

John 14:1    Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.

 

Here’s a song about when all you seem to see is the struggle and being haunted by the past, and feeling bound up in the shackles of our failures, and wondering how long it’s going to last like this.  To remember to stop fighting this difficult fight as it’s already been won, as we are redeemed and Our Lord set us free. 

   Also know that He can shake off these heavy chains and wipe away every stain we have experienced, and that He shows us that we aren’t the person we used to be as we are redeemed by Him.  We may feel shame and regret, but Our God shows us that He’s not done with us yet.

 He’s give us a new name, and new life, and is there to carry us home.

 

“I Am Redeemed”  by Big Daddy Weave

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HqxingoYS0&list=PL3whQX319DaB37iB8NZpJe206iSdpe3kc&index=174