The Gideon Complex- Complex Gideon?

So I was recently reading Judges chapter 6 as it was the daily reading for the Girlfriends in God devotional. Like many others, I have probably read this passage before but never fully realised its significance. Take for example the part where Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press (v.11). To thresh wheat in a wine press meant that he was hiding what he was doing from his enemies and it meant- well he was a coward. If you read earlier in the passage you would realise that the Israelites had again forsaken God and He allowed their enemies to capture them and of course they quickly cried out for God to save them. 

There are many of us who ask for God's help and deliverance when tragedy strikes and when He lovingly reminds us that we are here to point people to the cross and to deliver the hope message we say, "Nah boy wrong person eh!" and we produce a list of 'what I am nots' to a God who firstly, created us and designed us for the purpose at hand; secondly, the God who is Great and can do anything and thirdly, well, the God who created the universe out of nothing. 

Gideon was an unlikely candidate for champion. If the world were auditioning for a new superman, he wouldn't get the part by far. So imagine Gideon's surprise when this angel shows up and tells him that "the Lord is with him, mighty man of valour". Gideon probably raised his eyebrow and looked around like 'is who you talking to really, can't be me?' Immediately, he starts making excuses, this sounds familiar? (Exodus 3:11).

But that's just it, God uses the unlikely candidate or well the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, the weak things to shame the strong and the lowly and despised things, you know the things that are not to nullify that which is- 1 Corinthians 1:27-29. So basically, God specialises in turning things on their heads, in doing the impossible and of course using the least likely person- a coward to lead his people to victory. This is basically the theme of many of our story books and movies we love to see the rise of the underdog.

Now, before God could create that champion that was inside Gideon, He had to wake up the beast, so to speak, and like Moses and Peter, He had to sandpaper the rough edges and turn that fear into faith and that faithlessness into faithfulness. That's just it, like he told Samuel, He sees on the inside at the heart while man looks outside. How great it is to serve a God who sees what you can become while you are still wrestling with who you are, this is quite different from how the world sees us.

God knew that Gideon was timid at first, and that is possibly why he entertained his requests. I mean, like many of US, we ask God for a sign that something is His will (because it wasn't enough that an angel from Heaven visited him personally) and to confirm it. God did just this, with the unleavened cakes and meat. Gideon, was a signs man, he had to see it to believe it, so he asked for another sign and God obliged, and then he asked for another sign and in between there after the angel disappeared the voice of the Lord spoke to him.

I don't think that God gets annoyed with our requests (within His will) or with our praying but the lack of faith after He has proven himself is what probably causes Him to call us 'Ye of little faith'- Matthew 8:26. After all, the disciples were with him and watched him work miracles and still got scared because of a little wind and wave.

We all need to be more confident after we have boldly approached the throne of grace. We need to rest assured that once God has confirmed it in His word (most importantly) over and over again that we do not then renege on our contract of faith.

I myself am not quite there yet but I endeavour to push on and I thank God for His signs and for bearing with me. When I was faithless, He remained/remains faithful. When I chose to follow the voice of others, the devil and myself and not His voice that was loud and clear, he stayed with me and loved me regardless. Thank you for seeing the mighty woman of valour inside me and for nurturing it.

"Strap up me Gideon boot, now me ready fi d war, satan wa tek me fool, not this yute, but me and Jesus ah par, haffi defend this truth, stand spiritually sound so me na dilute it no. We've got to live pure, I wanna make my election sure..."- Positive