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by Bill Seng

“If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” ~Judges 7:10-11

A few months back, I watched a UFC fight featuring Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt as the main event. Brock Lesnar had been my favorite fighter in the UFC ever since he threw his hat into the ring because he has a background as a NCAA wrestling champion. On top of this, he was also a UFC champion at one time in his career until an illness debilitated him. I watched a fair amount of the prefight leading up to the event and I was surprised to hear, for the first time leading up to the fight, apprehension in Lesnar’s voice. Mark Hunt has a reputation for having massive punch force and, this being Lesnar’s comeback fight, he really did not know how he would fair against Hunt’s power. Looking at the two fighters, there should have been no doubt that Lesnar was going to win. But for some reason, Lesnar was not fully convinced of this reality before the fight.

God was proving himself to be among Gideon’s camp, but the army could not see the power that they had on their side. They were assured by God that they would be victorious, but after God trimmed their numbers down from 20,000 fighting men to only 300, they were a little nervous. This was not a good military strategy. Sensing there was fear in the camp, God told Gideon that he would permit him to sneak in among the camp of the enemy to hear what they were saying so that they would be encouraged.

Humans are strange when it comes to trusting God, but he fully understands our predicament. We aren’t always aware of the power that backs us up when we are walking in obedience to God’s commands. We see that, in this story, God is patient. He saw that doubts were rising in the minds of Gideon and his men and they needed some reassurance.

Remember, Gideon wasn’t used to the idea of submitting to the will of God. He hadn’t seen all of the miracles of past generations. His experience had mostly been with Israel’s humiliating defeats against her enemies. Who could blame him for still having a little apprehension? Nonetheless, we see that he was still willing to follow through with God’s command to fight the Midianites and Amalekites.

An advantage we have over Gideon is that we have an entire book to remind us of how faithful God has been to all who call on his name. We are able to read about Gideon’s victory. We can read about Moses, David, and Elijah. We can read about how God grew the church in the midst of intense persecution. God is always faithful. It is okay to have a little apprehensiveness when going out on a limb to do God’s will. But always remember God’s faithfulness and do not allow any factor to discourage you from following through with his commands.

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