Gideon suffered from a lack of humility; he suffered from pride. That statement may initially sound perplexing. Does not the narrative up to this point present him as one who speaks so lowly of himself? Yes it does. But that does not change the fact that fear is very often a form of pride. Fear tends to show up when you see that you do not have the raw materials needed for you to control or handle a situation, and you would rather you did have such materials. Fear shows up when practically speaking, you actually believe that God and his promises are inadequate for you. The reason Israel made a golden calf was fear. They could not see God; Moses was gone for so long. A graven image would give a little more hold on God. They could control him a little bit themselves.

Gideon was fearful because he looked at himself, and at the enemy, and figured he didn’t have the resources to fulfill his calling. He didn’t have to be afraid. The Lord repeatedly promised himself to Gideon, and that should have been enough. But Gideon was self-focused.

What do we see when we look at Gideon? We are not called to be deliverers, to be sure, but we are called to trust that the Lord is with us, as he promised at our baptism. And there is the struggle. We have a hard time trusting that God and his promises are actually for us, even though he impresses upon us himself and his promises weekly in the worship services. I am the Lord your God. I am with you.

Judges 6:1–24 is an encouragement for us to trust that God is sufficient. Are you having relationship difficulties, whether in your marriage, your family, or otherwise? Are you being called to love someone who is difficult to love? Do you have a serious illness? Are you going to trust that the God of your baptism is with you, and will supply you the strength to hold fast? Or are you afraid? Do you ever want to ask God much like Gideon, If you are with me, then why has all this happened to me? When we look at ourselves honestly, we come to see that we are not all that different from this fearful warrior. God’s promise of himself is often not enough for us. That calls for repentance.