After Gideon's initial victory, he moved with his army of 300 to finish the job and completely defeat Israel's enemy. When he tried to enlist some local leaders to help him, they refused, causing Gideon to tell them,
“Just for that, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will tear your flesh with desert thorns and briers.” From there he went up to Peniel and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. So he said to the men of Peniel, “When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower" (Judges 8:7-9).
Don't focus on what Gideon promised to do to them, but consider his boldness and courage he exhibited when he vowed to return. When we first met him, he complained that he and his family were the smallest and most insignificant, which were the reasons he thought he could not possibly be the one to do what God was asking. He needed multiple confirmations that God was with him and speaking to him.
However, in these two instances, Gideon was bold and full of faith. He was going into battle but was so confident of his survival and success that he promised to come back and punish the people who refused to help. Like Abraham in Genesis 22, Gideon promised that he would "return in triumph," a statement of faith and confidence in God's ability to preserve and protect him.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:19, "It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak." How is your faith talk these days? Are you like the first version of Gideon—tentative and unsure—or this new, improved version—confident and bold? What are your words telling others (and God) about your faith in the God of your creative purpose?
Your productivity and success are in God's hands, but He still needs your cooperation as you build, fight, write, learn, or go. It's time your image of yourself matched the one God has of you, and that is one of a victorious, successful servant of the Most High God.
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