By Olubunmi Adebayo
To raise up any man’s faith, God prepares such a fellow for “the Test of Faith”.
And the first Test of Faith for everyone is at Home : For Abraham, it was that he should leave his father’s household to a new location God showed him. And he did.
For Gideon, before facing the Midianites, it was the instruction that he should tear down his father’s altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole (Judges 6:25-27).
This is where most people fail the test of faith. In the case of Gideon, he obeyed, though he did it at night because he was still under the influence of fear.
Know that real faith often starts in private before it is seen in public. God deals with the idols in our house first : fear of people, fear of family opinion, fear of losing reputation. Gideon obeyed though afraid, and it was still counted for him as obedience.
We all need to understand that courage is not the absence of fear, but obedience in spite of fear.
The faith drive of Gideon grew with the soldiers he was able to raise – from 32,000 to just 300. God will always purge your faith of any Self-Reliance :
God reduced Gideon’s army from 32,000 men to 10,000, and from 10,000 to 300 men (Judges 7:2-7). First, those who were fearful were sent home : 22,000 left.
Then, those who drank carelessly were sent home -9,700 were asked to leave. Finally God said: “I will deliver Israel with 300 men, lest Israel claim glory for itself.”
God will sometimes strip away numbers, money, connections and human support so that when victory comes, no one can say “we did it by our strength.” Fear makes us want more resources at our disposal. Whereas faith that trusts God in addition to obedience is enough.
Turning fear to faith will require a rooted foundation on God’s word, and not on human feelings.
When God noticed that Gideon was still afraid the night before the battle, He told him to go down to the Midianite camp and listen (Judges 7:9-14). There he heard an enemy soldier dream that God had given the Midianites into Gideon’s hand.
The words he heard turned his fear into worship. Verse 15 says he bowed down in worship, then told his men: “Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.”
Never joke with the fact that faith thrives on hearing God’s word. Gideon did not wait to feel brave. He went, he listened, he worshipped, then he acted.
Surprisingly, the 300 men won with unbelievable weapons – trumpets, broken jars, and torches, not swords, because the battle was the Lord’s.
TAKE -AWAY FOR EVERYONE : Stop hiding in your winepress.
Bring your “why” questions to God. And if you are honest like Gideon, God can handle your questions.
Know that God may reduce you. It is part of growing up your faith. If God is therefore taking away what you trusted in, then He is preparing you for a victory that will clearly be His, and His ONLY.
At this junction, let me encourage you to move from your fear to faith, and from faith to action. Always know that fear will say : “I am the least.” But faith will say “God is with me.” While action will say “Get up!”
God did not change Gideon’s circumstances first. Rather, He changed Gideon’s view of God, then Gideon’s view of himself, then Gideon’s obedience came handy to drive his faith.
The journey of faith is not from fear to “no fear”. It is from fear to faith.
We conclude by asking you to Reflect on this :
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3.
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©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
