Christopher Smith

God saw Gideon as a mighty warrior, because He looked at the potential inside him, not at the outward appearance and visible circumstances. Gideon saw those circumstances with his natural eyes and, blind to his own potential (as we usually are), declared himself a weakling. I think it's interesting that Gideon says, "But sir, how can I deliver Israel?" I read that and imagine God saying, "Well said! Now you're ready for me to use you!" Gideon had already showed his desire to fight for liberty by a small act of rebellion--threshing grain in the winepress--but although he probably was pondering the possibility of stretching himself to save his clan, he was afraid to step out (he hadn't the courage to thresh wheat in the open). When God declared the vision of salvation for an entire nation over him, God placed Gideon into "water over his head." Gideon knew he couldn't do that assignment in his own strength. Gideon was then able to be used by God.

The Israelites worshiped other gods, rather than Jehovah. Today, we place other things at the center of our lives. I especially like what Geoff B said: It doesn't take much to drift away from God. It is so easy to miss a day of quiet time with God, two days can easily come together, and then you have a pattern forming! Pretty soon, it's been a week, or two, or... since you've spent time with God, until your mouth betrays the state of your heart. Then you realize you'd better resume your quiet times! To keep God on the throne of my life requires that each time something tries to unseat Him, I must push that aside and reinforce His position. As Susan said, "Easier said than done." Because, as Geoff B pointed out, we have to remember to keep applying what we know. Amidst the world's distractions that's not easy.

Gideon blames God for his troubles and the troubles of his nation because he makes an error in logic--that if God is with one, no harm or evil may befall that one. However, God has not promised us a Disneyland, as Campus Life magazine used to point out. And it is also necessary to define "harm or evil," as God views those things from His perspective: if something brings discomfort but results in glory to our God, He may be quite willing to permit it to proceed. Gideon's assessment is not accurate, because God had not abandoned the Israelites. He had temporarily given them into the hands of the Midianites because He loved them and chastened them, but He was still with them. We blame God because we want things to go "well" for us or other people, but we judge what is "well" from our own perspective. We want things our way. The danger in blaming God is not in bringing down His fierce judgement and revenge, but in permitting a seed of bitterness to take root in our heart. Then, the enemy can water that seed, and everything "bad" which happens to us will "prove the validity" of our harbored assessment of God: that He doesn't love us anymore, has left us, and is bent on our destruction. We are then caught in the lie of the serpent in Eden--God does not have your best interests in mind, which in turn gives us license to sin. We stray or run further from God, He allows us (in love) to suffer the consequences of our sin, and we (suffering more) judge God as our enemy. To avoid this downward spiral, we must refuse to allow that seed of bitterness against God to come into our heart. Throw it out, quick! As we go through trials of our faith, and insist on trusting Him and declaring to Him our faith in His love for us, we grow in our ability to accept "bad" things as good when they come from His hand.

Hello, I'm Christopher, from Virginia but now living and working as a churchplanter in southern Spain (which is not warm currently ). This is my first online Bible study, although I've been using the Internet since 1991. My sending church is an independent charismatic church; I was in the Episcopal church as a child.