The Reluctant Warrior Series

The other man – and I swear this is what he said – responded “This can be nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash of the nation of Israel. Their God has delivered Midian and the entire camp into their hands.”

He knew my name!

He knew the name of my father and the nation I represented!

The only way he could have known such things was if God had made it known to him.

It was then that I KNEW that God would grant us the victory over our enemies. And I bowed my head and worshiped.

Quietly, Purah and I made our way back to our tents and when we arrived I cried: “Get up! Get up! God has delivered Midian into our hands.”

I divided our men into 3 companies and gave each man a trumpet and empty jar to cover their torches. Then I explained to them where they should position their men around the camp of our enemies and sent them to their places. When it seemed that our men were properly positioned I blew my horn, and – as one man – our army broke their jars to reveal their torches and blew their trumpets.

The night was lit up with the blaze of our torches and our trumpets spoke with the judgment of God upon the camp of Midian. And all of our men shouted “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon.” It was such an overwhelming sight and such a thunderous sound that the camp of the Midianites erupted in fear as each man ran from their tents and grabbed for their swords. In their confusion, they believed that we were in the midst of their camp and they began to turning their swords on one another.

And the slaughter than night… was terrible.

Those who survived cried as they fled from the valley and we chased them all the way out of our land.

And the Midianites never returned to bother us again.

That night changed me.

It was on that night that I realized all that God had meant to teach me.

I had learned that I was being called by a God who wanted my total allegiance. He was a God who would not tolerate any other god, or any other treasure to stand between myself and Him. If I was to be used by God, I needed to destroy and remove from my life anything that would compete for my affections.

But I also learned that the God I came to serve was a powerful God. He was a God who was capable of consuming an entire offering from the flames of a rock. A God who could protect me from the anger from my neighbors. A God who could speak to me by my own personal fleeces and by the dreams of my enemies. And He was a God who could destroy a mighty army with a force of only 300 men.

THAT is the God that I serve!

A God who would stand beside me and protect me in times of trouble.

A God who could bring strength to my life and peace to my heart.

(I softly sang this verse again, emphasizing the “God of PEACE”)

“He is the Great I AM, the God of Abraham

Jehovah Shalom, the God of peace I am

The God of Israel, the everlasting One

He is Jehovah, the God that healeth thee.”

Do you have that kind of peace in your life today?