We remember and recognize the great work of Gideon (Judges 6 – 8). He led a downsized army of 300 and with God’s guidance he brought great victory to Israel during a dismal period of the Judges. He is certainly to be honored for his leadership. But what you may not have considered is that during a very crucial time in the history of God’s people, Gideon was in hiding. God’s people were “shut-up” and “shut-out” … They lived in caves and dens and were not even able to enjoy the fruit of their labor for fear of it being taken by their oppressors! When God’s messenger appeared to Gideon he was covertly covering his crop in order to keep enough for him and his family … he was simply in self-survival mode. The situation of the few (his family) seemed to weigh more on his heart than the situation of the many (his nation).
When the messenger addressed him, he did so in a way that perhaps was foreign to Gideon. Instead of calling his name, he said “Thou mighty man of valor”! Surely Gideon was shocked. Can you hear him, “I’m just a man trying to take care of my family in these hard times!” However, he was God’s chosen vessel for such a time as they were in and therefore he was addressed as he was truly in his heart! (God knows!) He was called to do a job much nobler and gallant than his current position of hiding grain. In other words, “He was the Right Man in the Wrong Place”!
When we think of a hero, we think of a man with an iron will and a bedrock spirit. We envision a man with the sharpest intellect and a zealous spirit. When we think of a hero we see a man accustomed to hardship and willing to make the ultimate sacrifice if warranted. When we think of a hero we see a man willing to ride alone into battle. He is a man of action, purpose and drive. We don’t envision a hero as someone sitting on the sidelines and hiding in the bushes. We don’t picture as a hero one who is willing to let others do what he can do. No, when we picture a hero, we see someone with the mettle to withstand the fiercest battle and darkest night.
Gideon was to “play the hero” that day and in subsequent days ahead! Even when he tried to evade the issue by saying his family was not prominent or that he was not the preferred one in his father’s house, he was assured that the LORD would be with him! “You Got this son!”
I am not suggesting that what he was currently doing was wrong, but it was not what God needed him to be doing at such a time as the times they were in. Desperate times call for valiant measures and God needed this young man to fulfill his purpose … he needed him to be a thresher of men, rather than a thresher of wheat.
God did with Gideon what all good leaders do … put the right people in the right place! It’s a function of leadership to identify the task to be accomplished, identify all the parameters needed to fulfill it, and to choose a warm body to get it done!
Where are you today “O man or Woman of Valor”? Are you in the Right Place? Have you considered the plight of your nation, your family, your church? It’s honorable to “take care of yours” … but it is critical that you make yourself available to take care of God’s! Will you step out of the winepress of self-survival to the frontline of leadership?
Now you have the CLUE!
