Read Part 1.
Although Gideon is certainly a man driven by his anxieties when we first meet him in Judges 6, the magnificent accomplishments which God worked through him were definitely done on the basis of faith.
Indeed, this man of fear became a man of faith—and it was that faith that drove one of the greatest victories in all of Biblical history.
When we first encounter Gideon, the fifth of the 12 leaders of Israel described in the book called Judges, he is definitely a man who is overwhelmed, even dominated, by fear.
Gideon lived during that long stretch of time—more than three centuries—between the days of Joshua, and the launch of the monarchy, which is captured for us in the shadowy book of Judges.
Now, Gideon’s fears were not unfounded. Over the course of seven straight years, the Midianites, Amalekites and other Easterners had swept through Israel at harvest time and taken every shred of their crops, along with their animals, leaving the people of Israel completely desolate.
“Ministry is hard and ministers are flawed…. Ministers give in to doubts and distractions, cynicism and cowardice, gossip and glory-hunting. While gathered with fellow ministers we may pretend otherwise, but sitting alone in our studies, we know it’s true.” - TGC
