Ask Him, Don't Test Him
From the Dashboard >
These last couple weeks I’ve been reading and studying a lot about one of God’s champions in the book of Judges, the “mighty warrior” Gideon. I put those words in quotations because it’s really the polar opposite of Gideon’s personality and physique. He was the weakest man, from the poorest family, in the smallest tribe of Israel. He even choked on his tongue a bit himself when the angel called him those two words.
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The lessons of our human frailty and weaknesses, combined with God’s sufficiency are all over these chapters. But there’s one thing that has been a nagging question, and I want to share it with you. I want to know why God responds favorably when Gideon, struggling to believe that God really will use him, and really is with him, asks for a sign. Here’s the passage in question:
Judges 6
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
This account confuses me. God had told Gideon more than once He was with him. God had shown Gideon that He was with him. Why is Gideon’s hesitancy and timidity (maybe even cowardice?) being rewarded by God when he keeps asking for signs? What’s more, consider what Jesus said when those in His day asked Him for a sign:
Matthew 16
1 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.
I know that I’m not to put the Lord my God to the test. Those were Jesus’s direct words to Satan in Matthew 4. But it sure seems like that is what Gideon is doing here and being rewarded for it! So, what can we make of this and how does it affect us today?
Obviously, I don’t think I have all the answers here, but I do think this is an answer, and one that we would do well to take to heart. Do we see a difference between these two questions:
“God, if you’re really real, prove it to me by giving me some kind of sign.”
AND
“God, I’m terrified in dealing with this diagnosis. I don’t know how I’m going to hold it together for myself or my family. Please reveal Yourself, Your power, Your strength, Your comforting presence to my heart and mind.”
The questions are unique in that while the first one is putting God to the test, telling Him to prove Himself despite all that He does daily, the second one is asking God to reveal His nature – something I think He is always ready and wanting to do for those earnestly seeking Him.
In fact, I think we miss out on His reassuring presence often because we don’t ask the Holy Spirit to empower us with it.