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Something I hold as one of the most important, and exciting, parts of being part of the Christian community is how God uses all people to be his voice. This is one of the reasons I encourage people to ‘have a go’ at leading a small group study, leading a worship gathering and sharing a message when we meet.

Last Sunday, Lydia made her preaching debut and spoke on the story of Gideon from the book of Judges in the Old Testament. I can’t really remember, but I think the only story of Gidoen I have heard preached on is that of the fleece. Testing God for confirmation of what we think we are being called to do. But Lydia focussed on the amazing, and somewhat astounding, story of what happened after that.

Gideon faced the Mideonites, the largest army the world had seen to this point in time. He had gathered a large army himself, but God said, “You don’t really need that many soldiers.” Gideon was told to send the scardy cats home (22 ooo went). Then he was told to send the ‘tongue lappers’ home, leaving him with a grand army of 300 men. Through some cunning tactics and divine help, Gideon and his men were victorious.

But the astounding part was what happened next. After seeing God work in such powerful ways, Gideon went and set up an idol, and both he and his family bowed down and worshipped it. As Lydia said, “What on earth is going on here?!”

A summary of Lydia’s message is this: God is always faithful and forgiving. Even when we are involved in great things with God, we can still make some monumental blunders. As hard as it is to hear it in those times, God IS forgiving.

As I reflected on Lydia’s message later, I was challenged to think about my own journey. Without sounding too much like a proud and arrogant big-head, I have been fortunate to be part of some very special and poweful times in my ministry. I have seen God use me to change lives and watched as some of the things God has given me a burden for coem to pass. And I think that puts me in exactly the same position as Gideon.

For instance, after seeing all these things happen, I could easily sit back and say, “God has used me, I must be sooooo good.” And then I could live off the good reputation and admiration that brings for months, perhaps years, without doing a single thing to faithfully live the life Jesus has called me to. In effect, I would be building an idol just like Gideon, and bowing down to it instead of submitting to the call of God. I’d be living in the past and miss out on all the benefits of ‘life to the full’ that Jesus wants me to have now.

No Jesus calls me forward. He calls me to keep devoting myself 100% to God and to serving my neighbour as myself. And when I stuff it up, he grabs me by the hand, dusts me off and tells me to keep going.

I don’t know if Lydia intended this to be a message for me or not. It doesn’t really matter - that’s the beauty of God speaking through more people than just the pastor.

Thanks for faithfully speaking God’s word Lydia!