As believers, some of us have grown up in a Christian home while some of us have not — either way, we have to develop our faith in God. If you grew up in a Christian home, you cannot live off of the faith of your parents. You have to develop a relationship with God individually. God is your heavenly Father, and Jesus is your Savior. When tough times come, it is your faith in God that will help you.
If you read the story of Gideon in the book of Judges starting in chapter 6, we see how Gideon developed his faith in God. The story starts with the author telling us that the Israelites had been disobedient to the Lord. Therefore, God allows them to be tormented by the Midianites. This tormenting had been going on for seven years. This is the setting that we find Gideon. The angel of the Lord appears to Gideon while he is threshing wheat in a winepress. Here is what the angel says to Gideon, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!” (Judges 6:12b;NLT).
This is where Gideon questions the angel of God. Gideon wants to know if God is really with them. For the last seven years, why have the Midianites oppressed the Israelites? This is probably something we would ask God about our world today. Why are there so many killings or people dying of cancer? Basically, Gideon is asking where God has been? Gideon sites what he has heard about God’s miracles from his father and possibly his grandfather. Gideon has heard of God’s great power but has not experienced it himself. Like Gideon, we have listened to the stories in the Bible and gone to church every Sunday, but we may not have experienced God working in our life.
After Gideon gets his questions off his chest, this is what the angel of the Lord does “Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” (Judges 6:14; NLT). Despite all of his questions, God still sent Gideon.
As the story moves along, Gideon “test” God to see if God is genuinely leading him to rescue the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites.
Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.” (Judges 6:17- 18; NLT)
“Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning, but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.” (Judges 6:37-40;NLT)
Gideon wanted and needed to see God’s power in his own life. Our faith grows as we see God work. Some may say that Gideon lacked faith in God, and that could be true, but the only way we develop our faith is to see and experience God working in our life. The more trials and hard times we experience, the more we have an opportunity to trust in Him. He has a great purpose for us.
In the end, God used Gideon to defeat the Midianites. Gideon knew that it was God working through him to make this happen. As we look at the life of Gideon, the lesson is that we should want to develop our faith in God. We cannot live off of the faith of others. It is our relationship with God and walking daily with Him that we grow.
