VERSE:
“Announce now to the people, ‘anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
— Judges 7:3

THOUGHT:
In Judges 7:2, God told Gideon that the battle he was about to enter would be a testimony of God’s power on behalf of God’s people by showing God’s strength through man’s weakness; therefore Gideon was NOT to go to battle with a large army. In the next verse, God told Gideon that he had to thin the herd, leaving only a select few to go with him into battle.

Gideon was told that the first people to leave were those who “tremble with fear”. In other words, the doubters – those who didn’t believe God could do it. Not only would their numbers take away from God’s glory, they would have also been a source of doubt infecting the people with unbelief, thus hindering the work that needed to be done.

APPLICATION:
The church has been given its marching orders: “Go into the enemy’s camp and make disciples of all nations”. However, we need to be careful of who we bring along on our mission. Stay away from fearful, doubting naysayers who will plant seeds of unbelief.

PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, help me accomplish the mission you have given me. Put people in my life that can help me accomplish the mission and strengthen my faith, and reveal to me the people who I should separate from that would hinder me from accomplishing it. In Jesus’ Name I pray, AMEN!