The Gideon Series: Seasons of Pruning

When God Strips Everything Away: Lessons from Gideon on Faith, Pruning, and Impossible Victories
Sometimes God does His greatest work through the most unlikely people, in the most impossible situations. The story of Gideon is one of the most powerful examples in Scripture of how God uses weakness, fear, and even loss to set the stage for a victory that only He can claim.

What Does "But God" Mean and Why Does It Matter?
As the enemy crossed the Jordan to come against Israel, the author of Judges records a pivotal moment. The enemy was advancing, but then comes one of the most important phrases in the story.

"But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon."

Those "but God" moments change everything. A marriage was falling apart, but God. A prodigal was running away, but God stepped in. A diagnosis looked hopeless, but God intervened. When God steps in, everything changes.

The danger is that we become so focused on what the enemy is doing that we miss what God is doing. There is a difference between a buzzard mentality and a hummingbird mentality. A buzzard will fly over a field full of living things and zero in on the one dead thing. A hummingbird will fly over a barren land and find the one living thing.

Are you focused on what is dead, or on what is alive?

What Happens When God Prunes What You Were Counting On?
In Judges chapter 7, Gideon assembles his army and God does something that makes no natural sense at all. "The Lord said to Gideon, 'The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, my own hand has saved me.'" - Judges 7:2

God begins to prune the army. First, those who were fearful and trembling were sent home. Twenty-two thousand men left. Ten thousand remained.

Then God said it again: "The people are still too many."

He brought them to the water and watched how they drank. Those who scooped water with their hands and brought it to their mouths, staying alert and upright, were kept. Those who knelt down and drank directly from the water were sent home. Only 300 men remained.

Pruning seasons are never easy, but they are always necessary. Without pruning, you will never receive the harvest God wants for you later. Pruning is often the test of whether you will truly trust God even when things are being stripped away.

Why Does God Ask Us to Stay Alert?
The 300 men who were chosen had something in common. They were paying attention. They were alert to their surroundings even while meeting a basic need.

Scripture is clear about the importance of staying alert:

• "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour." - 1 Peter 5:8
• "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." - Ephesians 6:18
• "So be on your guard, not asleep like others. Stay alert and be clear headed." - 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Too often, the enemy gains access to our homes, our churches, and our relationships because we are not paying attention. When we are consumed with filling our own needs, we lose the alertness needed to recognize when the enemy is trying to sneak in.

Why Does God Choose Impossible Odds?
Three hundred men. Against an army described as being as numerous as locusts, with camels without number, like sand on the seashore. This was not a fair fight by any human standard.

That was exactly the point.

God wanted to make sure the task would be impossible so that no one could take credit for the victory. He did not want the victory attributed to the size of the army, the strategy of Gideon, or the courage of the Hebrew soldiers. He wanted it to be unmistakably clear that this victory came from His mighty hand alone.

Sometimes God places us in impossible situations so that when the breakthrough comes, the only conclusion anyone can reach is that God stepped in.

How Does God Confirm His Plans Before the Victory Arrives?
That same night, God told Gideon to go down to the enemy camp. If he was afraid, he could bring his servant with him and listen to what was being said.

Gideon went, and he overheard an enemy soldier telling a dream to his companion. In the dream, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp and flattened a tent. The other soldier interpreted it immediately: "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given Midian and all the camp into His hand." - Judges 7:14

God confirmed His victory through two enemy soldiers. He can use anyone and anything to speak into your situation. And the timing was not a coincidence. Gideon arrived at exactly the right moment to hear exactly what he needed to hear.

When Gideon heard it, he worshiped. The battle had not yet been fought. The victory had not yet been won. But he believed by faith that it was already done.

What Does It Mean to Worship Before the Victory?
Too often, worship and thanksgiving come only after we see the physical results. We wait for the breakthrough before we give thanks. But Gideon worshiped before a single soldier had fallen.

That is what faith looks like. It is believing God will do what He says even when the physical results are not there yet. It is thanking Him for the victory before it arrives.

Faith is not waiting to see the light at the end of the tunnel before you start thanking God. Faith is thanking Him in the dark, trusting that the light is coming.

Life Application
This week, identify one area of your life where you have been waiting to see results before you give God thanks. It might be a relationship, a financial situation, a health concern, or a prayer you have been carrying for a long time. Choose to worship and thank God for the victory before it arrives. Write it down. Speak it out loud. Let your faith move ahead of your circumstances.

Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:

• Am I focused on what the enemy is doing, or on what God is doing in my situation?
• Is there an area of my life where I am resisting God's terms of deliverance because they do not look the way I expected?
• Am I staying spiritually alert, or have I fallen asleep at the wheel in my home, my relationships, or my faith?
• Can I trust God enough to thank Him for a victory I have not yet seen?

God uses fearful, flawed, and unlikely people. He prunes what we are counting on so that His power can be clearly seen. And He calls us to worship not just after the victory, but before it. That is the kind of faith that moves mountains and defeats armies of thousands with only 300.