Give me a Sign! (Gideon's story, Part 2)

In the last post, we left the Angel of God sitting under a tree patiently waiting for our 'not-so-much-wanting-to-be-a-hero' of a kid, Gideon. The Angel had just told him that he would defeat the Midianites but Gideon wasn't convinced one bit. He wanted a sign!

Gideon raced home, yelling at the top of his lungs for his little sister to come help. Together they prepared a young goat and made a humungous batch of unraised bread. Hardly anyone batted an eye at his craziness. Gideon was prone to silly antics so was able to finish his job and get out without so much as a raised eyebrow his way.

Gideon talked his sister and brother into helping him carry his feast the long way and was a bit surprised that the Angel was still there when he got back.

"Go ahead and put the meat and unraised bread on the rock over there."

Gideon did as he was told.

"Now pour the broth on them both."

Gideon again did the Angel's bidding, not knowing where he was going with this. The Angel of God stretched out his stick and touched the meat and bread.

Gideon stood, waiting, and his brother and sister long ago forgotten, stood in the shadow of the tree. As soon as the tip of the stick touched the food, fire broke up out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread.

Our 'soon-to-be-hero' 's jaw dropped to the ground. His siblings jumped back in fright then turned and ran home as quick as their wobbly legs could take them.

Gideon quickly realized that it was for sure God who spoke to him. He said, "Oh no! Master, God! I have seen the angel of God face-to-face!"

God quickly assured him that he would not die.

Gideon looked around for his brother and sister, and not finding them, he started building an altar on his own. As he worked, thoughts went round and round in his mind. "God said I would defeat Midian. How can this be? But the fleece was burned up. Surely God has spoken."

When the altar was built, he named it, "God's Peace."

What signs are you looking for today? Are you testing God to make sure that it is Him who is talking? From studying this passage, I would say that questioning God is okay. But after we have our answer, we need to move forward and grab hold of it.

Kristen, from Exemplify, sent me an e-mail today. She said, "Don't feel puny, dear friend, Christ calls you a mighty warrior!! He is in you - the hope of glory. We have the hope of glory."

Kristen is right. We certainly do have the hope of glory! The puny in me can flee. The fleece has burned up. He has assured me that I am a mighty warrior and will be given everything I need for the battle. But like Gideon, I have much to learn and more messes to make! Tomorrow we will find out how Gideon messes up.