When the Cave Gets Comfortable

Gideon is one of the most famous names in the book of Judges, but when we meet him, he's hiding. The angel of the Lord finds him threshing wheat in a winepress and says:

"The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!" (Judges 6:12)

God calls him a mighty man of valor. He's a man of God who just isn't living like one. He's being led by fear, not faith.

I've been there. I've sung the songs we just sang and preached these sermons, then gotten in my truck and started making a backup plan in my head in case God doesn't come through. Before he passed away, my grandfather told me, "Always wear a belt and suspenders." Always have a backup plan. We get that way as Christians. We believe God's word and God's faithfulness, but just in case, we put a little faith over here.

Caves become comfortable

Israel had been hiding from Midian for seven years. They made dens in the sides of the cliffs. They had a system: don't harvest in the daytime, don't thresh on the hilltop, don't build where there's a nice breeze. Fear got so normal that it became part of their routine.

A winepress was a big vat near the vineyard where they stomped grapes. Threshing took place up on the mountaintop, where the wind could blow away the chaff. You needed the wind. But Gideon was hiding, and he'd gotten really good at it. You stop asking how you got here and start organizing your life around fear. I wrote in my notes that living in fear is so easy, even a caveman can do it.

You can still tell the Egypt stories in a cave. You can sit around the fire and talk about the good old days when God showed up. And Gideon says:

"If the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about?" (Judges 6:13)

God is saying, "Buddy, if you'll just get with Me here, I'm trying to write another story, about you."

Cries become common

Israel finally cried out, out of desperation, not repentance. God's answer stings:

"Also I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed My voice." (Judges 6:10)

I can tell you not to be afraid of spiders. You'll still jump when one crawls across your nose in the middle of the night. "Do not fear" is said over and over in the Bible, and as Christian atheists we fear anyway. "But God, the economy. The AI. The dollar."

Here's the hard part. The problem was not the Midianites. The problem was the Israelites. Your problem is not your problem. You are your problem. God says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you," and we ask, "Where's God?" That's a faith issue. We want rescue; God wants obedience.

The crisis of belief

Eventually you hit the end of the rope, where you can't keep up appearances. Maybe you're the alcoholic who wakes up in your own vomit, or the doctor says there's nothing else they can do. All the makeup has been cried off your face.

We call that a "come to Jesus moment." Can I tell you there's no such thing? But there is a moment when Jesus comes to you. Gideon wasn't looking for the Messiah. He was too busy hiding. And God came to him.

Gideon wasn't an atheist. He was a believer with a hiding spot. God is calling us out of the cave.