The Skeptical Believer

The great Prince of Peace prophecy in Isaiah refers back to “the day of Midian’s defeat” (Isaiah9:4) - which is pretty easy to overlook amidst the glorious foretelling of the coming Messiah. But when we stop and reflect on the connection between Midian’s defeat in Judges 6 and the prophecy in Isaiah 9, a few things become clearer that are often not mentioned in ‘nice’ church circles.

First and foremost, the hero of the story (Gideon) does not have an ironclad faith. He’s pretty shaky. In fact, you could say he’s downright skeptical. Listen what happens when God speaks to him:

The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders? - Judges 6:12-13

So it’s this kind of authentic, honest, and somewhat wounded leader that plays the key role in Midian’s defeat. And perhaps it’s because God recognizes that hundreds of years later in the time of Isaiah, the people of Israel are just like Gideon who have their own doubts, fears, and questions. And perhaps this is why this passage is such good news for us today - because we’ve got our own church trauma, we struggle with skepticism, and, on our good days, we’re learning how to be honest about that like Gideon

Perhaps today you could try to be as honest as Gideon was with God as you think about the wonderful promise that God is with us. How does that settle with you? Do you think God could still use you right in the state you are in, skepticism and all? What might be an appropriate way to move towards God right now?