Moving Forward
Moving Forward
Judges 7:1
Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
Something’s stirring again in Israel. Momentum is shifting from wasted, desolate years of oppression to a new day of prosperity. You can feel it in the air, can’t you? New sounds of a revived pilgrim endeavor are awakening the dawn on this day. The pitter patter of men packing their bags; the gentle, heartfelt kisses and hugs from anxious wives and mothers; the sound of crunching leaves and pebbles under the marching feet of soldiers; the physical signs and sounds that the Spirit is once again moving with His people, and godly men are once again ready to advance the mission of their forebearers to embark on a brand new Gensis via a brand new Exodus. And it always starts just like this. With a man up before the sunrise, on the move. Like Abraham when he left his family to journey to Canaan, and like Jacob when he wrestled with God all night before facing Esau, and like Moses when he delivered God’s people out of Egypt, and like Joshua when he embarked across the Jordan, the telltale sign that a nation or a church or a home is on the right track is the sound of saints wide awake and on the move.
When Gideon woke up this morning, he didn’t rush out the door to check his fleece for dew. As far as we know, he didn’t get cold feet and cry to Heaven a third time with another test. No, that was yesterday’s mission. Yesterday, he needed confirmation, and God gave it. So today, even though Gideon is likely trembling in his boots and exhausted from a sleepless night of tossing and turning and muttering under his breath something like, “Father, take this cup from me!”, like all the godly patriarchs and matriarchs of yore, he rises against the enemy’s desperate attempts to hold him back and follows the Spirit’s movement into the great unknown.
Oh, may the atmosphere of our journey today be saturated by the sights and sounds of spiritual advancement. May we, too, exchange the fleece of yesterday’s seeking with the forward motion of defining action.