Eastertide
April 28, 2014

Then Gideon said to God, ‘In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.’ And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, ‘Do not let your anger burn against me, let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.’ And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. –Judges 6:36-40

I have always been thankful that the compilers of the Bible included the story of Gideon as I think he is very representative of many of us.  Gideon lacked confidence. He did not lack faith in God; he lacked faith in Gideon. Now, I suppose that one could take this full circle and say that if Gideon fully accepted that God created him then it might demonstrate a lack of faith by denying his own abilities. I do not think that is the case here.  Gideon was a farmer not a military leader. My guess is if God had told Gideon to grow the best crops in the land so the hungry could all be fed, he would have set forth with all due haste to do just that.

I think the story firmly recognizes that God knew God had caught Gideon off guard. Why else would God have been patient enough with him to take the challenge of the fleece not once but twice? God looked around to find someone with the perseverance, wisdom, and fidelity of a farmer to deliver Israel from its enemy.

In working with the poor, I have discovered most have amazing skills at survival, at making ends meet, at caring for children in terrible circumstances, at understanding the needs of others. Identifying and tapping innate skills and building confidence are most often the building blocks for the pavement out of poverty.

Prayer: Lord, give us the confidence we need to develop our innate skills so that we can help others do the same. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.