“And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets” (Hebrews 11:32 NET).
We continue with the account of Gideon’s attack upon a group of enemy soldiers as chronicled in the Biblical book of Judges…
“[Gideon] divided the three hundred men into three units and equipped every man with a trumpet and an empty jar, with a torch inside each jar. ‘Now watch me,’ he ordered them, ‘and do what I do. When I get to the outpost of the camp, do just what I do. When I blow the trumpet, along with all who are with me, then you blow the trumpets, all of you surrounding the whole camp. And then shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’
Gideon and one hundred of his men moved to the outpost of the camp at the middle watch of the night, when they had just changed the guards. Then they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. So the three units blew their trumpets and broke their jars, holding the torches with their left hands and blowing the trumpets in their right hands. And they called out, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’
Each man stood fast in his position around the camp, and the entire camp took off running, shouting, and fleeing. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord turned the swords of fellow soldiers against each other throughout the whole camp. The camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, to the border of Abel-meholah, beside Tabbath” (Judges 7:16-22 CEB).
So this narrative reminds us that it is not how we start, but how we finish that counts. You see, Gideon may have begun as a frightened and insecure individual, but God transformed him into a person of leadership and courage. Gideon responded to God’s call with honesty, humility, and respect, and the Lord responded by enabling him to overcome his initial reluctance. Thus, God empowered Gideon to fulfill his calling.
The good news is that this is just as true for us as it was for Gideon. If God could help a person like Gideon overcome His fearfulness, then He can certainly do the same for us as well. God has the ability to write Gideon’s story in each of our lives- and if He could do this for Gideon, He can do so for us.
Unfortunately, Gideon’s account did not end there, and we will examine a far less encouraging episode from Gideon’s life next.