Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: GET COLD FEET (10/12/17)
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TITLE: Listen | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lisa Enqvist
10/19/17 -
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For seven years they had been under constant attacks. All their work was for nothing. The enemy invaded their land like locusts, so they could not harvest what they had sown. The Midianites even took their animals away.
Joash had taken his family and all his animals into hiding as well. The enemy had not yet discovered his fields. Still, just in case the enemy appeared at harvest time, his youngest son Gideon had to hide and thresh the wheat at the bottom of a winepress. He lived in fear just like everyone else.
A strange prophet passed through their land reminding them of God’s help to their ancestors in the past. “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I delivered you from the hand of all your oppressors; I drove them out before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
Gideon was thinking of the prophet’s words as he threshed the wheat. God had done mighty things in the past, but where was God now? Why were the people suffering? Why was the enemy able to destroy their livelihood while God did not do anything to help his people?
The words of the prophet echoed in his mind. “I am the Lord your God. Do not worship other gods. But you have not listened to me.”
An angel of the Lord appeared and sat down under an oak and called Gideon:
“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Gideon’s mind was still full of the message the prophet had brought. He answered,
“If God is with us, where are all the mighty miracles he did among our ancestors?”
“You go and save Israel in the strength you have.”
Gideon tried to explain how impossible it was for him, of all people, to do such a thing.
Whatever excuses Gideon gave and signs he asked for to make sure that God meant what he said, in the end, he yielded and listened to the Lords instructions.
From his position as a “nobody” in his clan and his family, Gideon grew strong and courageous, so brave that he was ready to challenge the army he had gathered around him:
“Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave.”
Over two-thirds of the troops got cold feet and were ready to run away from the upcoming battle.
Another test came up, and most of the remaining 10,000 men left, leaving Gideon with only 300 men.
Their only weapons were trumpets, clay pots, and fiery torches. No swords, no bows, and no arrows. Nothing a soldier might expect to use in battle. The enemy’s troops were innumerable.
It is understandable that the majority of Gideon’s men were fainthearted.
From where did Gideon’s boldness come? He had been just as scared as the next man from the start.
The words of the prophet had pierced through his heart.
"You have not listened to me.”
So in spite of his doubt and his fear he stopped to listen to what God wanted him to do. Slowly, slowly, God's word became more visible. God was patient and gave him the signs he needed until he was sure the message was definitely from God.
“The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
“Go in the strength you have... Am I not sending you?”
Even in the moments before the battle, Gideon heard God’s voice and obeyed each instruction he received.
Hebrews 12:3
Isaiah 42:3
Isaiah 35:3
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