THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT YOU

• DAY 49
• Fear File: Gideon 
• Scripture: Judges 7:9-11 & 15

It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant, and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.” 

JUDGES 7:9-11&15

So we’ve been studying Gideon for quite a while and today is no different. If you missed all the action, start the study from the beginning when you click here.

In our text today we see that Gideon was still working on his nerves. He was still afraid, on some level, of the fight ahead of him. Who wouldn’t? Especially when he compares his troop of 300 men, who were chosen, not by how they fought but by how they drank water. I would think that God would have asked for a combat test but NO! He chose water. Now, he had 300 men skilled in water drinking but he wasn’t quite sure how well they could throw a punch. I will be afraid too. But God had a plan.

Now will be a good place to pause and praise the God who always has a plan concerning you. He sees all that you are struggling with and He understands all you have to go through. You don’t have to stay fearful, you can talk to Him and I guarantee you that He has a plan for you to get your courage back.

Mind Games

The plan for Gideon was to send him to eavesdrop on a conversation. In our world today, that is probably a violation of privacy. But for Gideon, it was a faith-boosting strategy. God had gone ahead of him in a dream and started defeating the minds of his opponents. This is the oldest trick in the book. Wrestlers, athletes, and politicians are skilled at this game. When elections are close, rumours and secrets start flying about, aiming to reduce the confidence of the citizens and supporters of that candidate. But the most interesting by far is how wrestlers talk to or about their opponent on TV and even right to their faces before they start the fight. They bring up insecurities and secrets, just to get in the head of their opponents. The goal is to defeat them in the mind first! Because a strong man with a broken spirit is already defeated. 

Do you now understand why the enemy goes hard after your thoughts? Do you now see what he is aiming at? The principle of thought states that as a man thinks in his heart, so he is. So if he can get you to think like a failure, if he can get you to think like a victim, if he can succeed at changing your perspective about yourself, he can overcome you without even trying. Your self-sabotaging thoughts will empower you to defeat yourself. 

Now imagine how victorious you will be if you think as God said. If you focused on thoughts that are true to God’s word, thoughts that are pure, thoughts of a good outcome, thoughts of victory, of faith and courage, you will set yourself up for victory. Your thoughts will empower you to overcome.

God was encouraging Gideon to victory and setting up the Midianites for failure at the same time. Don’t mess with my God. He doesn’t need any plan to win a war, He can snap his fingers and it’s over, but He wants as fair a fight as possible, so He uses the playbook you can comprehend. By activating the foolish things of this world He defeated a dreaded army with just a dream.

Get Ready To Hear

It wasn’t enough that the Midianites were dreaming, no! Gideon had to hear of it. Because “faith comes by hearing.” And this strategy works for fear too. You see, most of us are intimidated by the negative things we hear about ourselves. We shrink at the words of a hater and quit at the report of a backbiter but what we should listen for is the dream they had. Do you think that if the Midianites had come out to talk to Gideon they would have shared their dream? Not for a million reasons. They probably would flip it and say things like, “you are nothing but bread and we will eat you up!” “Or somebody get butter, our daily bread is here.” Yet all the while they would have been sharing their dream.

Ask your local bully why they were calling you names and they will tell you that they were jealous or intimidated by you. They’d say something like, “Back then you were talking like you owned the world, you were acting like you are too smart, what were you feeling like?” What are they telling you? That they saw greatness in you, they saw an intelligent capable person standing before them. And they couldn’t let you come in from Nowhere, with all your confidence, and take people’s attention away from them.

Why does the adversary seem to see what is in us before we do and believe it more than we do? The thing is they keep telling us but we are not listening correctly. We are not filtering the words and hearing the fear in their heart and the truth about us. We are getting offended by words that don’t really reflect the true state of our identity.

Beloved, this is listening season. We are keeping our ears peeled for what “they” are really saying. But we are focusing on what God is trying to communicate when He let us hear what was said. When they say “failure” we will hear “victorious.” Because the devil is a liar and no matter whose voice he uses, he is still a liar.

Pray With Me

Lord, help me to hear clearly this season. I pray that I will have the grace to filter the words that are spoken in my direction and only hold on to what aligns with what you say about me. If there are seeds already planted in my heart by negative words, I pray today that I am purged of it forever by the blood of Jesus. I declare over my life what The Blood is speaking concerning me even now. in Jesus’ name. Amen

Shalom

Watch today’s video here