Courage – Part 3

The Lord called Gideon a “mighty man of valor!” It is obvious Gideon didn’t see himself that way. He was probably what we would call today, one who had a poor self-mage. He didn’t see himself as courageous.

Isn’t it interesting that God knows our heart and he knows us better than we know ourselves. Gideon saw in himself a lack of confidence. He did not have a high opinion of himself.

God, however, knew his heart. He knew that Gideon was courageous.

One thing is for certain. Gideon had a strong fear or reverence for God. That is a good place to start. True courage starts with a healthy fear of God.

When God asked Gideon to tear down his father’ Baal altar, Gideon didn’t hesitate. He did it, even though he knew the task would endanger his own life.

When God asked me to produce my first evangelistic outreach event, I was afraid. I knew it was a great risk and that it could take all my finances and all my stability.

I reasoned that disobeying God was more risky than losing all of my financial stability.

I went ahead and produced the event. In a town of 1500, the event, Littleton Meets Minnesota, drew about 2200 people with hundreds of decisions for Christ. Then, God spoke again to do another event . . . and another and another.

Eventually, our events reached well over 40,000 people and eventually, . . .

it wiped me out financially. I lost my house, my family farmland, and I ended up homeless for seven and a half months. It did not stop me, however. It grew my faith exponentially. The ministry continued and continues to this day.

Do I have regrets? No, not really! I know that as a result of my obedience, I will meet thousands in heaven who came to Christ as a result of the events I produced.

If you are at a crossroads in your life,

if God is asking you to do something and you are faltering, I urge you to obey God’s command. You cannot go wrong by obeying God.

As believers, it is what we are called to do . . . obey God.

Gideon obeyed God, and God worked mighty miracles in defeating the Midianites and driving them from the land and livelihood of the Israelites. As the result of Gideon’s obedience, the Israelites had 40 years of peace and prosperity.

A courageous act does not mean that you have crossed over, that you have earned a reputation of courage and you will now get respect wherever you go.

Courage is not an act, but courage is character, character that produces courageous acts over and over again.

In Courage, Part 2, we left Gideon and his men after the Midianites had fled from them. But the job hadn’t been finished. Gideon and his men pursued and they put out the call to other parts of the land for more soldiers to pursue. To send the enemy fleeing is not enough.

When the enemy is on the run, we must pursue and kill them. Gideon and his men pursued. When they got to the river Jordan, Gideon and his men were exhausted but they continued to pursue and kill the enemy.

A parallel in the Christian life might be when we have defeated a major temptation in our lives. But this is just one victory. We must continue to pursue and kill the temptation. We must defeat it over and over until it no longer has power in our lives.

On the journey of pursuit, Gideon and his men needed to be fed. Gideon asked for food from the leaders of Succoth. They said, in effect, “Hey, you haven’t won this battle yet,” and they refused them food. Gideon had not yet captured the Midianite kings, Zebah and Zalmunna.

What disrespect was shown, after Gideon had put the Midianite army of thousands to flight. I made note of the fact that Gideon, when God first called him, had a negative self-image, that is to say, he didn’t have a lot of confidence. Now he was being tested again. The leaders of Succoth were clearly disrespecting him.

When I was in business in downtown Minneapolis, I had good clients and bad.

Among the bad were whose who did not value or respect my work. They would look for ways to pay me less than my work was worth, or they would take forever to pay me or not pay me at all.

Well, you can’t be in business and let your clients run over you like a Mack Truck. You must teach them to respect you . . . and that takes courage. In some of those cases, my response to disrespectful clients was to “fire them.” I would announce to them that I didn’t want their business any longer . . . that they should look for another producer to do their work for them.

Gideon was not going to leave the disrespect of leaders of Succoth without consequences. After he had captured the two kings, Zebah and Zalmunna, he returned to the leaders of Succoth and tore their flesh with thorns and briars.

Courage is not just one act, or a serious of brave acts. Courage is developing a character that always does the right thing, not matter what the opposition may do. Courage demands respect.

Gideon was not about to let the leaders of Succoth disrespect him, and the narrative says he “taught them (Judges 8:16 NKJV.” He taught them respect by tearing their flesh with thorns and briars.

Courage demands a strength of character that will never let your enemies disrespect you.

Courage is more than a brave act or a series of brave acts.

Courage is the kind of character that always does the right thing in every situation.

Photograph taken and designed by Lorraine