Context No. 2656 of 4322 · Judges

Judges 7:13-18: in context

13When Gideon had come, behold, there was a man telling a dream to his fellow. He said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” 14His fellow answered, “This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army.” 15It was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. Then he returned into the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has delivered the army of Midian into your hand!” 16He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers. 17He said to them, “Watch me, and do likewise. Behold, when I come to the outermost part of the camp, it shall be that, as I do, so you shall do. 18When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, ‘For the LORD and for Gideon!’”

God has whittled Gideon's army down to three hundred, and Gideon is understandably afraid. So God tells him to sneak down to the edge of the enemy camp, where he overhears a Midianite recounting a dream, a barley loaf tumbling into camp and flattening a tent, and his companion interpreting it: this is nothing but the sword of Gideon; God has given Midian into his hand. And when Gideon hears it, before he does anything else, he worships.

See how God handles a frightened leader. He does not scold Gideon for his fear; he stoops to reassure it, arranging for him to overhear the very words that would settle his heart, the enemy's own dream confessing the coming defeat. God met the fear with exactly the encouragement it needed. And Gideon's first response is worship, right there at the edge of the enemy camp, before the battle, before the victory. He bows. Then he rises and rallies his men. That is the pattern of faith fed by grace: God gives the reassurance a fearful heart needs, the heart responds in worship, and worship becomes the launching point for action.

Do I notice the reassurances God provides for my fear, and does my response turn to worship, and then to action, the way Gideon's did?

Sources

Judges 7:14: This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand.
Judges 7:15: when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped.
Judges 7:18: When I blow the trumpet... then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp, and shout, For the LORD and for Gideon!