Fleecing

Have you ever wondered about God's direction for your life?  Have you ever asked God for a sign?  Gideon did. Not once, not twice, but three times. Here is the story for context with the incidents highlighted:

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.

In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!

They asked each other, “Who did this?”

When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.”

The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” So that day they called Gideon “Jerub-Baal,” saying, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.                                                                         ~Judges 6                  

I struggle with my direct sales business. It does not have the security of a 9-5 job, and I provide my only household income. It demands that I grow in ways I've never been challenged to grow before. The financial success of our current leaders is about the same as I've had from my professional career. But, the potential of a ground floor opportunity is greater, both personally and financially.

Every time that I wavered in my commitment to this business early on, I got a call out of the blue from my sponsor— more than once when she misdialed! Though brief, the contact was encouraging. (Can you feel the damp fleece yet?) Not for the first time, I laid a fleece before God over the weekend about my continuation in this business. And, I have to tell you, I would have been happy with a "no" just to be able to make a decision and move on.

Our company training meetings always have raffles, with attendees earning tickets for attendance and participation. I never win. To increase your chances of winning at nationally sponsored events, you can purchase tickets. At the annual Demarle at Home convention this past weekend, proceeds from raffle ticket sales went to the family of one of the earliest members of the US sales team, who is now in hospice care for end-stage cancer. I purchased tickets for Karen's family without any thought of winning.

US Chairman/CEO/Partner Cindy Juncaj announced the introduction of a new French pastry cookbook on Saturday morning. Translated from French, the cookbook is in the final stages of proofing, and she showed a prototype to us. She also made a spur-of-the-moment decision to raffle available copies off, whereupon I laid out my fleece.  What could be more improbable than my winning a French Pastry Cookbook? I never win anything and I'm gluten intolerant! Moreover, by that point, over $1688 had been raised for the Walters family, meaning that at least 2100 tickets had been sold with a dozen or so drawings already held. What were the odds? I think by now you've already guessed that I am the warm, fuzzy owner of a new cookbook. The only one that was raffled publicly.

I am struck anew by the tenderness of our God. When Gideon asked, for the third time, "Are you sure about this, God?" he was also saying please don't be mad, but I need reassurance about this circumstance. It is important to note that Gideon never once questioned God's power or wavered in his devotion to Him. The first time, he even asked God to wait right there while he went to prepare a sacrifice to offer Him. Aren't you glad our God is willing to wait and is patient with our human frailty?  I am.