For we live by faith and not by sight'

THE FAITH OF GIDEON: OVERCOMING INFERIORITY IN FAITH

Hebrews 11.32f: 'Gideon... whose weakness was turned to strength, who became powerful...'

Gideon's life shows us, like the life of a number of people in Scripture, that God doesn't just use strong, forceful people with great natural charisma to do significant things for him. He uses surprising people: people who when he calls are only conscious of their weakness. The key thing is whether they will have faith, not in themselves, but in a great God. We can identify with Gideon. God will use us, if we have faith.

I.   JUDGES 6.11-15: GIDEON. FULL OF HESITATION

• As we first encounter Gideon, in what ways does he seem a very surprising choice for the Lord to call to such a significant task? What did he think about God? What did he think about himself?
• What do you think caused 'the shadows in his mind' about the Lord? (Perhaps 6.1-10 will help). Do we get such 'shadows' in our minds' about God? What causes them? How do they affect our (spiritual) lives?
• Gideon also seems to have real 'shadows in his mind' about himself! Can you surmise what caused them? Are they real or are they false modesty or are they an excuse? What causes our senses of inferiority? Do we ever use them as a reason (or excuse) for not venturing on service?
• How did the Lord respond to Gideon's doubts about himself and about the Lord? (14-16) What two things was Gideon to look at and remember? Is that helpful to us?

(The following two sections you may need to skip over because of the time

II   6:16-24,33-40: GIDEON SEEKING CONFIRMATION

• What (double) confirmation does Gideon seek? Does that show weakness or wisdom? How important is confirmation of calling before we venture on a big thing for God?
• What sort of 'confirmation' might we seek?
• Ill  6:25-32: GIDEON MAKING A BEGINNING Is the place Gideon is told to begin significant? Why? Is there a principle here for us in our service of the Lord? What sort of things do we need to begin with? Can serving God outside the home ever be an escape (or 'conscience appeaser’) for not putting things right at home?

IV   7.1-22: GIDEON TAKING SIGNIFICANT ACTION

(On the basis of the confirmations given and the preliminary action taken in faith, Gideon’s faith begins to grow - and he ventures at God's command on major action)

• In what major way must Gideon's faith have been deeply tested by the things he was commanded to do? (7.1-9) How would you have felt if you were Gideon?
• Why doesn't it really matter whether there are 300 men or 32,000 men? What do we learn here about the essence of faith?
• 7:10-15: What picture do these verses paint of the sort of God we have? Do they encourage you?
• 7:15-25- Clever strategy and great faith! What was the strategy? How much faith did it still take to act as Gideon did? What assurances did Gideon have? What about the 300? What faith did it take for them? ^What assurances did they have?
• How would you sum up the change in Gideon as we first see him and Gideon now? And what's your summary of how the transformation came about? Could it happen to us? Has it?