Judges 6, Proverbs 14, Titus 3

God called Gideon a "mighty man of valor" while he was still hiding in the wine press. God saw what He had in mind for the future.

Gideon could only see the present . . .  and he had questions. "If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?"

God didn't answer Gideon's question. He gave an assignment. This is where we tend to push the pause button in our lives. We want our questions answered before we proceed. But Gideon obeyed.

The first assignment didn't look like what it was. Tearing down idols and thus making the whole community angry might not have been Gideon's idea of valor or how to save Israel from the Midianites. But he obeyed. He trusted God to fit all the pieces together.

Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Verse 14 adds, "The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied from above."

We who have been saved, "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy . . ." have a responsibility "to be ready for every good work." The Bible is full of instructions for right living and we are to follow them. But we are also to follow God's leading in assignments. He lives in us and will, by the Holy Spirit, manifest Himself in such a way as to accomplish His work through us. Even if it doesn't look like what He says it is.