Good Morning Mighty Warrior

The story of God and Gideon and the cup of blessing from Judges 6 and 7 put in verse.

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The challenge with freedom is— it isn’t free at all,

The further you drift from home—

the further you’re bound to fall.

When God’s favorite children kept forgetting His great plan,

He released them from His mercy into a com-promised land.

Settling in the rocks and cliffs, farming when they could,

Summer brought the Midianite horde—

always up to no good.

Those vultures, thick as locust, compounded all the stress,

Of a people who had wandered off and forgotten to confess.

Looking to spare some food- in a winepress lined with wood

A young man wondered if the God who once did was

the God who still could.

Then from the weakest family—

plucked from the weakest clan,

The angel of the Lord picked out God’s next superman.

It was by the oak at Ophrah, Gideon heard the voice of God,

Greeted, “The Lord is with you!”

He felt more than a little odd.

He didn’t hold a title, his papers weren’t in order,

Still the angel of the Lord kept calling him, “mighty warrior.”

He was being asked to do what only soldiers dream

To win the greatest victory the world has ever seen.

The first step on his way to this elusive blessing cup,

Was remodel his father’s altar—tear it down and build it up.

The Lord had made it clear to him, “No false gods at home.

If you want My help when you go on the road,

trust in Me alone.”

Taking on his father’s gods didn’t win him much applause,

Taking up with Father God became his brand new cause.

This first act of obedience, didn’t inflate his confidence,

So he asked the Lord for a test with wet and dry fleece evidence.

He believed to convince a nation to enter this holy war

Was going to take a miracle

and tens of thousands of troops and more.

Gideon called the tribes to battle, he summoned them to fight,

His trumpet rallied an army who would stand for what was right.

Somehow, the next morning, the 32 thousand dropped to 10

God thought that was still too many,

so He sent home 97 hundred of them.

Choosing those final soldiers would be difficult, you’d think,

But God took them down to the water and

merely watched them drink.

General G was now left with an army 300 strong,

But his blessing cup was filling and his God could not be wrong.

Armed with renewed blessing, their trumpets and their torches,

This tithe of a tithe of an army charged off on their horses-

To a ridge overlooking Jezreel valley,

Where the Midianites camped with their Amalakite allies.

So down to the tent city, Gideon and Purah crept,

To overhear this dream that haunted the enemy as they slept.

While the Lord had been filling Gideon

with a dream that was getting clearer,

He was filling the Midianites with a new found Gideon terror

Gideon overflowing with a blazing faith

Challenged his army with amazing grace.

He took his 300 and divided them in thirds,

And strengthened their resolve with the courage of his words.

“Watch me, follow me, and do exactly as I do.

We’ll charge the camp at third watch and God will see us thru.”

There in the darkest hour, before the new day came,

The men of God attacked the camp, shouting out His name.

300 faithful with jars and echoes crashing,

Began to claim a victory that had been there for the asking.

The Midianites were startled,

their hearts overwhelmed with fear,

Overcome by their worst nightmare that Gideon was near.

In their panic, without a clue,

They did what cornered animals do.

As faith stood watch, chaos filled their hearts

A once invincible force dissected into parts

Each turned on the other, slaughtering all in sight,

God delivered a “Good morning.” out of a very scary night.

So then and there the least of the least

became the best of the rest,

And once again a faith-filled people

discovered they were blessed.

Embrace the lesson of this simple cup,

Hold on tight, hold it high, let God fill it up.

Choose life, choose love, choose hope, choose faith

Choose to feast on mercy and grace.

Battle through the fear that paralyzes

Break down the walls of com-promises

Remember the Lord when the going gets tough

You are a mighty warrior with a mighty blessing cup.

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Psalm 143:8 ESV 

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.

The sun came up and greeted me as I prayed to God to give me direction and purpose for the day. Nice to know that God loves me.

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