So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
I believe that God loves showing off His provision to us in even the smallest of details – for me, I find myself praising Him and giving Him glory when I’m given a prime parking spot. My God cares about my life, and He takes joy when I praise Him… as I flick on my blinker and glide into that smoothly lined asphalt spot.
While, I may not lay out a fleece and ask for Him to rain on it about whether to parallel park on the street or continue into the parking garage, I may ask for an extra tangible reminder of His prompting in the depths of my pain and the heights of my joy. My God shows up, and He shows off.
In the lowest grades of elementary school, teachers often prompt students to “put on their listening ears,” as an encouragement to really hear the teacher’s instructions. As believers, it’s imperative for our “listening ears” to constantly be in tune with the voice of the Lord’s instructions.
However, maybe, we’ve heard His word and yet cannot quite grasp what the Lord is asking of us; or, we have our listening ears on, yet, we can’t quite tune into the frequency on which He’s speaking.
While testing God may seem irreverent, when Gideon insisted on laying out fleece and making a request for God to show off, He set an example of searching – truly seeking out – the commands of the Lord. In Gideon’s case, God asked him to abandon his army of hundreds of thousands in favor of a mere 300 to face an opposing force. Maybe God is asking you to release your fears about having a child, maybe He’s stirring in your heart to leave the security of a full time job to stay at home with your children, or He could be asking you just to stay in your marriage and watch Him move.
God’s word affirms to us that He will provide. Lay out your fleece and watch Him respond.
