Now, we have discussed at length
that the Lord can use anyone He pleases. Anyone that is willing to
make them self available for His Service. One of the people we
discussed was one of Israel's judges, Gideon. The Lord called him a
mighty hero and asked him to come and rescue the Israelites from
the Midianites. But Gideon was only an ordinary man, busy trying to
hide the food for his family from the enemy. He was the least in
his family and his family was the weakest in the whole tribe of
Manasseh, which in turn was only one tribe in the nation of Israel.
And here the Lord calls him to rescue the nation from their
oppressors. He was dumbstruck and couldn't believe that the Lord
was actually calling him. Why not one of the more
influential people in Israel? Why him? But as we said, the Lord
sees potential and He knows what you can become.
Now contrary to Moses, Gideon
didn't make further excuses as to why he wasn't good enough, but
instead he wanted proof that the Lord will indeed be with him. He
wanted absolute assurance that the Lord will be with him when he
starts out with his task of rescuing Israel, as he knew that if he
was on his own, he would die within the first attempt. He therefore
asked not for one, but for three signs before he would go.
In the first place Gideon brought
an offering to the Lord. He brought a young goat and unleavened
bread. (Just as a thought, at that stage the Israelites were
starving after the Midianites took everything, so for him to bring
a goat and unleavened bread as an offering was a major
sacrifice. At this stage he didn't know when and if the Lord was
going to free them. But in faith he brought probably some of their
last food as a sacrifice. The Lord rewarded him for his faith.)
Once he brought the sacrifice, the angel told him to pour broth
over it and once he did, the angel extended his staff and a fire
flamed up and consumed it all.
The second sign that Gideon asked
was that he will put a fleece outside on the threshing floor. In
the morning he asked the Lord that the fleece be wet from dew and
the ground dry. And the next morning it happened exactly that way.
Then he had the nerve to ask the Lord for a third sign and to do
the opposite the next morning, and only then will he go
and rescue Israel. And indeed the following morning the fleece was
dry and the ground wet.
Now please note here that the Lord
did not once become upset or angry. He wanted to use Gideon and
provided him with the necessary assurance that He would be with
him. The fact that Gideon asked for three signs shows a bit of
unbelief, but the Lord was patient with him. Because after these
three signs Gideon started to move and successfully freed the
Israelites from their enemy.
The lesson for us today is that we
can ask the Lord for guidance and confirmation. If we believe that
the Lord has asked us to do something and we simply want 100%
confirmation, I believe that we can ask for it. BUT, remember that
Gideon did not have a Bible to read and learn from (I tend to
forget it sometimes that they didn't have any of the resources that
we have today). All he knew of the Lord was all the stories that he
heard being passed down from his predecessors. He didn't have the
Bible to study and he didn't have the Holy Spirit to guide him.
Luckily for us we have both. The Living Word of God as well as the
Living Presence of God in the world that can guide and
lead us.
As Paul so rightly says in 2
Timothy 3:16, 17: "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful
to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in
our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is
right. It is God's way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped
for every good thing God wants us to do."
So yes, please ask the Lord for
confirmation. Ask Him to show you what to do. Go to a quiet place
at your home or in the garden and sit still in the presence of the
Almighty God. He will lead you with His Word and with the Voice of
the Holy Spirit to receive confirmation of what you need to do.
The Lord can also use various other
ways, like fellow Christians giving advice, maybe receiving visions
and dreams, maybe receiving a prophecy from someone, the Lord can
obviously do anything and use anything in His creation. He even
used clouds once to talk to me. But don't just wait for the
supernatural to happen, the Lord can lead you through your everyday
Bible study. Just be ready when you receive your confirmation.
Because when you do, you need to be ready to move like Gideon
did.
Thank you Lord for not getting
angry with us. Thank you that You understand us. Thank you that we
can ask You for confirmation when we are not certain. We love You
and look forward to Your Plans for our lives. Amen