I believe that Gideon was bold. I think that Gideon was at first fearful but never timed. It is interesting that anyplace in the Bible that an angel appears to mankind the angel ends up telling them not to fear (6:23). Once Gideon was convinced that this was an angle talking to him he was bold. I believe that God still guides people today. The problem is that we are not expecting God to talk to us; we talk to Him but more often then not we don’t expect God to talk to us (by the way, why is it that when we talk to God it is praying but when God talks to us we are said to have Schizophrenia?). If we do hear God we tend to not pay attention because we tend to expect God to respond in a way that makes sense to us; we put God in a box that fits our expectations (the Pharisees did the same thing). We also tend to expect God to “rubberstamp” what we want.
God is active and working in the world that He created. God speaks to us through His word, though others and circumstances.
Like most people (including Christians), we are fearful or timid (Latin - timidus: fearful)in the flesh but can be bold in the Spirit, if we walk in the Spirit more than the flesh. Gideon took a lot of convincing, but was eventually obedient. We are quick to point out that if we don't move in obedience to God rather quickly, He will find someone else. This story shows that God is sometimes extremely patient and is probably a lot more patient than we give Him credit for (this probably has a lot to do with religious tradition). The less we become hard-hearted in various areas, the more we discover God speaking to us both in His word and in our spirits. I think He is speaking to us all the time; it's just we are not receiving His messages - we are not tuned in.
I believe that Gideon was bold. I think that Gideon was at first fearful but never timed. It is interesting that anyplace in the Bible that an angel appears to mankind the angel ends up telling them not to fear (6:23). Once Gideon was convinced that this was an angle talking to him he was bold.
ReplyDeleteI believe that God still guides people today. The problem is that we are not expecting God to talk to us; we talk to Him but more often then not we don’t expect God to talk to us (by the way, why is it that when we talk to God it is praying but when God talks to us we are said to have Schizophrenia?). If we do hear God we tend to not pay attention because we tend to expect God to respond in a way that makes sense to us; we put God in a box that fits our expectations (the Pharisees did the same thing). We also tend to expect God to “rubberstamp” what we want.
God is active and working in the world that He created. God speaks to us through His word, though others and circumstances.
Like most people (including Christians), we are fearful or timid (Latin - timidus: fearful)in the flesh but can be bold in the Spirit, if we walk in the Spirit more than the flesh. Gideon took a lot of convincing, but was eventually obedient. We are quick to point out that if we don't move in obedience to God rather quickly, He will find someone else. This story shows that God is sometimes extremely patient and is probably a lot more patient than we give Him credit for (this probably has a lot to do with religious tradition). The less we become hard-hearted in various areas, the more we discover God speaking to us both in His word and in our spirits. I think He is speaking to us all the time; it's just we are not receiving His messages - we are not tuned in.
ReplyDelete