Judges 6:34
"But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him."
As a young man, I had a short lived dream to play the trumpet. You understand the attraction to a sixth grade boy—a shiny brass instrument with only one way to play it—as loud as I could blow it. What could be better than a trumpet? Don't feel too sad for me when I say that dream passed away. It was replaced with other instruments and a life-long enjoyment of music.
Unlike me, Gideon had a trumpet, but he hadn't been about the business of blowing it. Like the rest of Israel, he cowered in fear against marauding Midianites and Amalekites, roaming bandits who came upon the land at God's beckoning to ravage Israel's crops and livestock. Judges tells us that once Israel committed again to follow after the Lord, God chose for them a deliverer. You've guessed it! God chose Gideon, just another young man with the same fears as everyone else, living with a silent trumpet.
Of course, God saw more in Gideon than our human eyes would have noticed. He saw that Gideon was distressed by the nation's worship of Baal and was willing to take action against idols even when caused his neighbors to grow angry. God understood Gideon would be a willing leader of warriors once he got over his fears. God knew Gideon would respond with blows of the trumpet once the Spirit touched his life.
And that's exactly what happened. With the Spirit's touch, Gideon blows his trumpet, summoning his people to battle. Although Gideon would twice put out the fleece to test God's presence, in the end, he moved out at God's command to rout these enemies.
God is calling some of us to the trumpet today. The question is, will we set aside our fears and lead others to face whatever battle needs to be fought? Will we step up to the plate and take our swings? Many times, believers are paralyzed with fear, failing to blow the trumpet to lead our churches in even relatively safe battles, simply because we've not acknowledged the presence of the Spirit in our lives.
That's not God's way. He sends the Spirit. We blow the trumpet not because we desire to lead, but because the Spirit bid us. And always, not matter the outcome, the battle belongs to the Lords.
May your fears give way to trumpets!
LORD JESUS
May your Spirit fill me with the courage to call others to join me in the battles you have for us to fight in your kingdom. Amen.
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