Gideon Trusted God
Judges 7:1-8
Our true story comes from a part, or book, of the Bible called Judges. A judge is someone who tells people what the law says.
Our story is about a really mean army called the Midianites. The Midianites were big. They were tough! And the guy God chose to lead the battle AGAINST the mean Midianites was a man named Gideon.
God told Gideon to gather an army to go and beat the mean Midianites. Gideon had 32,000 soldiers. That is a LOT of soldiers. With all those men, Gideon was sure to win the battle for God.
So Gideon and his army got ready for battle.
But God told Gideon he had too many soldiers. He told Gideon to ask his army if anyone was scared. Gideon was confused by this. Why wouldn’t God want a BIG army to defeat the mean Midianites? But Gideon trusted that God’s way was perfect and so Gideon said to the soldiers, "Raise your hand if you’re scared!" And lots of people raised their hands. So Gideon said, "You men can go home."
So, Gideon lost some soldiers, but he still had a pretty good number of soldiers, right? Not so fast. God looked at the soldiers who were left and said, "You still have too many soldiers. Take everyone to the water to get a drink. The men who put their faces down to the water should leave. The men who lift the water to their mouth with their hands can stay." Even though Gideon didn’t understand it, he trusted that God’s way was perfect. And so the men went down to the river to get a drink and Gideon told the ones who put their faces down in water to go home.
So, Gideon started with 32,000 soldiers. And now he’s down to just 300. Gideon knew he had a much SMALLER army than he started with.
To know how Gideon felt, think of it this way. If you filled your family car with all kinds of balls to play with, that would be a LOT of balls! It would take a very long time for you and your friends to play with all of them.
But then what if someone took just ONE ball out of the car and gave you that ball to play with? You might think you have a lot LESS than you thought you did. That is just how Gideon felt.
But God said, "There. Now you have enough. Go and fight and I will be with you."
Do you think God’s army won? Of course they did! God didn’t need 32,000 men. He could win the battle with just a few. Because God’s way is ALWAYS perfect.
Sometimes we don’t understand why God wants us to do something. Gideon didn’t understand why God kept asking him to make his army smaller. But just like Gideon, we can ALWAYS trust that God’s way is perfect. Gideon followed God’s way and his army won the battle against those mean Midiantes. Just like Gideon, we can know for sure that God’s way is perfect.
You can always trust God. What if God’s way is to be kind even when someone else isn’t? Should you still be kind? Yes! God’s way is to share with others. Should we share? Yes! We can listen and do what God asks of us because God’s way is perfect.
Bible Paraphrase: God’s way is perfect. – 2 Samuel 22:31, NIrV
Text Truth: God’s way is always perfect.
In our Bible story, Gideon led an army of soldiers. He did what God said because he knew God’s way is always perfect, even when he didn’t understand God’s way, like in our story, when God told Gideon to send soldiers away BEFORE the battle. Gideon trusted God and did what He said.
What is your favorite time of the day? And what of the rest of your family? What is their favorite time of day? It could be bedtime, play time, morning time, dinnertime—any time of day. Pray with your family and thank God that His way is ALWAYS perfect, no matter what time of the day it is.
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The illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported license. www.freebibleimages.org
Our true story comes from a part, or book, of the Bible called Judges. A judge is someone who tells people what the law says.
Our story is about a really mean army called the Midianites. The Midianites were big. They were tough! And the guy God chose to lead the battle AGAINST the mean Midianites was a man named Gideon.
God told Gideon to gather an army to go and beat the mean Midianites. Gideon had 32,000 soldiers. That is a LOT of soldiers. With all those men, Gideon was sure to win the battle for God.
So Gideon and his army got ready for battle.
But God told Gideon he had too many soldiers. He told Gideon to ask his army if anyone was scared. Gideon was confused by this. Why wouldn’t God want a BIG army to defeat the mean Midianites? But Gideon trusted that God’s way was perfect and so Gideon said to the soldiers, "Raise your hand if you’re scared!" And lots of people raised their hands. So Gideon said, "You men can go home."
So, Gideon lost some soldiers, but he still had a pretty good number of soldiers, right? Not so fast. God looked at the soldiers who were left and said, "You still have too many soldiers. Take everyone to the water to get a drink. The men who put their faces down to the water should leave. The men who lift the water to their mouth with their hands can stay." Even though Gideon didn’t understand it, he trusted that God’s way was perfect. And so the men went down to the river to get a drink and Gideon told the ones who put their faces down in water to go home.
So, Gideon started with 32,000 soldiers. And now he’s down to just 300. Gideon knew he had a much SMALLER army than he started with.
To know how Gideon felt, think of it this way. If you filled your family car with all kinds of balls to play with, that would be a LOT of balls! It would take a very long time for you and your friends to play with all of them.
But then what if someone took just ONE ball out of the car and gave you that ball to play with? You might think you have a lot LESS than you thought you did. That is just how Gideon felt.
But God said, "There. Now you have enough. Go and fight and I will be with you."
Sometimes we don’t understand why God wants us to do something. Gideon didn’t understand why God kept asking him to make his army smaller. But just like Gideon, we can ALWAYS trust that God’s way is perfect. Gideon followed God’s way and his army won the battle against those mean Midiantes. Just like Gideon, we can know for sure that God’s way is perfect.
You can always trust God. What if God’s way is to be kind even when someone else isn’t? Should you still be kind? Yes! God’s way is to share with others. Should we share? Yes! We can listen and do what God asks of us because God’s way is perfect.
Bible Paraphrase: God’s way is perfect. – 2 Samuel 22:31, NIrV
Text Truth: God’s way is always perfect.
Family Devotional
The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’” — Judges 7:2
In our Bible story, Gideon led an army of soldiers. He did what God said because he knew God’s way is always perfect, even when he didn’t understand God’s way, like in our story, when God told Gideon to send soldiers away BEFORE the battle. Gideon trusted God and did what He said.
What is your favorite time of the day? And what of the rest of your family? What is their favorite time of day? It could be bedtime, play time, morning time, dinnertime—any time of day. Pray with your family and thank God that His way is ALWAYS perfect, no matter what time of the day it is.
The illustrations are the copyright of Sweet Publishing and licensed by FreeBibleimages for free download under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-alike 3.0 unported license. www.freebibleimages.org
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