Judges 6:19–24

So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so.

Then the Angel of the LORD put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the LORD departed out of his sight.

Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”

Then the LORD said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it The-LORD-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Gideon didn’t realize who he was dealing with. He knew he was wrong to doubt that he could defeat the Midianites and he knew to offer up a sacrifice.

But the way the sacrifice is consumed shocks him. This is no regular angel. This is THE Angel of the LORD. He’s not safe.

It’s not just that being in the presence of the LORD isn’t safe. Gideon’s backtalk over whether he could take the Midianites suddenly looks really bad.

“Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.”

Well, that’s a relief.

This is perfect attitude adjustment. Gideon has been taught, encouraged, and had his pants scared off him. He’s now in the right place spiritually—ready to follow the LORD wherever He may lead.

That’s the right place for everyone. We should all seek to have that terrified, humble confidence that Gideon has found. But how?

What did it for Gideon was being in the presence of the LORD. That’s the main prescription. To grow in the LORD, don’t seek His favor; seek His presence.

There are two main ways to seek His presence: ask for it, and open your eyes. Our prayer lives should include seeking Him. We spend too much time asking for help with our own agenda and not enough time asking for more of His. This gets back to the line, “I never knew you,” in Matthew 7:23.

Seeing God or, as Brother Lawrence put it, practicing the presence of God, is just as important. He’s here.

Most importantly, these two work together. Ask God to reveal Himself and then keep your eyes peeled.

These Monday—Friday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Weekend DEEPs are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to all the DEEPs click here:

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The weekly study guides, which include the Monday–Friday devotionals plus related questions for discussion or meditation, are available for download here:

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV stands for the English Standard Version. © Copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. NIV stands for The Holy Bible, New International Version®. © Copyright 1973 by International Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved. KJV stands for the King James Version.