Building Confidence

Judges 6:15-16

The story of Gideon is a story of transformation.  Gideon begins in a time of conflict.  Midianites and other tribes would oppress Israel by swooping in anytime there was a crop and devour the produce.  Presumably they saw any time reapers came to harvest a crop and rode in and stole or destroyed it.  Because of this, Gideon hides down in a winepress so that no one can see him harvesting wheat.  It is here that the angel of the Lord visits Gideon and sends him to rescue Israel.  Gideon responds by questioning his own ability and his humble stature in the Israelite community.  God responds: “but I will be with you.”

It is in the low places, and the moments of humbling that God often comes to us.  Hiding in the winepress, God calls Gideon.  When Gideon speaks to his own inability to do the task, God reassures him by declaring the He will be with him.  Confidence to complete the things God has called us to do doesn’t come from our own ability, it comes from an encounter with the Lord and an assurance that He who has called us is with us to complete the task. 
​
It’s also a process.  God reassures Gideon many times through multiple signs.  He also takes him through different tasks.  Before He overthrows the Midianites, God commands Gideon to cast down the idols in his own family.  Often when God calls us to something, it must be addressed and resolved in our own hearts and in our own family first.  Gideon destroys his father’s idols at night because he is too afraid to do it by day.  His confidence was small, but he still obeyed the Lord.  Even though we are fearful, we must find a way to fully obey what God has told us to do.  As we obey God and see how God uses us, our confidence and trust in Him grows.  Gideon went on to free his nation and do many mighty things for God.  Today, let’s encounter God, push down our own fear, and begin to walk in confidence in God as we obey Him in all that He has asked us to do!​