Judges 6:33–40

Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

Everything’s going gangbusters. Even the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.

Then suddenly he gets a case of the yips and asks the LORD for a confirming sign. Then he asks for another one. How can this be? Gideon is the greatest of the judges, a superstar in the annals of faith, and yet his faith isn’t up to the task.

This is normal, and there’s a great lesson in it. Gideon isn’t a Marvel Comics superhero; he’s a flesh-and- blood human being who is being called by God.

This is training.

Like all great teachers, the LORD challenges His students and can push them to, or even beyond, their limits. Gideon is about to go into battle as the odds-on underdog. He’ll be vastly outnumbered.

But the LORD says that He’ll be with him. Great. It’ll be a piece of cake, right? Gideon can relax.

Ha! No one’s that cool. Gideon’s worried because he’s normal.

And God’s reaction to Gideon’s fretting shows that he’s not out of line. The LORD utters not a word of criticism for his lack of faith. He simply performs the confirming signs Gideon asked for.

This is exactly what Gideon needs. Despite all the other great and awesome things the LORD had done, Gideon’s not sure he’s got everything straight. (The plan does sound super far-fetched.)

God’s respect for that is one of the great lessons of scripture. He expects us to act like people. Yes, we’re sinful, and that can get annoying, but even when we’re at our best, we’re weak. Our faith flops around like a bass in a boat.

The takeaway is simple—be yourself. Don’t pretend to be some kind of super-saint, especially in prayer.

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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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.