"Gideon, Gideon, Marching off to ?"

Gideon.  What do you think of when you hear that name? 

Funny right?  But, honestly when thinking of Gideon, I think mostly of the fleece incident.  And then secondly I think of that Patch the Pirate song, you know it! "Gideon, Gideon marching off to fight, pitcher in his left hand, trumpet in his right.  Though it may seem foolish not to trust in the sword, Gideon was no fool for he trusted in The Lord."  I sang this song so much when I was a young patch the Pirate sailor, but you know I never really thought about it.  There is SO much more to Gideon than I ever could of realized. And I learned a lot about him in a Bible study that I just finished with the ladies of my church.  

About 7 weeks ago (give or take because of revival and some meetings) we embarked on a journey to discover more about the man named Gideon who is mentioned in only three chapters of the book of Judges.  We had decided to start the Study named, of all things, "Gideon", by Priscilla Shirer.  Perhaps you've heard of her, she's written quite a few titles.

This Bible study consists of seven videos that you come together and watch with the rest of the group, along with five days of Bible study that you do on your own, between those meetings. 

Now I have to say, that I entered the study, well, sort of half heartedly.  YES, I wanted to be there...YES, I wanted to jump in to God's Word and really see what He had for me, but I was weary.  Weary with my kids, with housework, with well doing.  Being honest, it just seemed like something else for me to be weary about, but I went.  Jumped in and prayed. WOW! Was I blessed! Week after week, listening to the women talk about how God had blessed them in the past week, and what they had learned, it really began to encourage and uplift my spirit!  Not to mention that I began to learn SO much and that God was changing me! I began to learn about who Gideon was, his background, his insecurities, his strengths, his pitfalls, and his mistakes.

One of the main themes in Gideon's life was that in his weakness, God was shown strong.  I LOVE this truth.  I know it seems simple enough, but for me (and if you really admit it, you too) I NEVER want to appear weak, like EVER!  I want to be that woman, you know..

YEP! HER, I want to be that woman that says, I CAN DO IT! I dont need help!

But, what a wrong, wrong view of my purpose as God's child.  God doesn't want me to lean on my own strength, and why should I want to?  I'm flawed, sinful, and weak. God is just waiting for me to lean on HIS strength, so that He gets the glory, which He so rightly deserves, and so that more can be accomplished for His name's sake and that souls may be won for Him!  

Priscilla Shirer said this in her last video, "Our weakness is the key, to unlocking God's strength.  What would be the purpose of a key, if not to unlock something?" How fabulous is that truth?  So why would God give us our weaknesses?  Paul explains it so well in 2 Corinthians 12:9, "And He said unto me, My (God's) grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  What other reason, but to show His strength in our weaknesses! He even says there that we should GLORY in those weaknesses! This truth, though simple, REALLY 'hit home' with me during this study!   But so did SO MANY other things!  This Bible study is really packed full of lessons that we can learn from the life of Gideon, not what HE did, but what GOD did through him.  I would highly recommend this book and videos.  Priscilla Shirer really puts in the time to study out what she writes and explain to you all the history behind all your studying, not to mention the spiritual meanings behind it all as well.  But more so than any of that I believe she lets The Lord really do the speaking.  You can tell, a lot of prayer and letting God move went into this study.  So, I would encourage anyone to order this study and begin it as soon as possible.  Even if your doing it on your own, you will be blessed, and will learn so much!   I will leave you with what Priscilla Shirer writes on the last page of the study, 

Keep Him first until the end of you days.

Pursue Him above His benefits with all your might.

Prioritize His way and His Word until you hear Him say, "Well done."

Expect your weakness to be a platform for His strength.

Carry on in confidence, my friend.

The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior.

Until we meet again.