During the years I studied music, I witnessed the many different ways people tried to handle their stage fright. Some closed their eyes and “pictured the audience in their underwear,” which never actually worked for anyone. Some practiced deep breathing or paced around backstage to shake out their nerves. Others got busy with pre-performance vocalizes and positive affirmations.
Some of these methods were far more successful than others. But regardless of their effectiveness, everyone had their own go-to way of coping with the fear. And it makes me wonder: how do you and I handle our fears today—not just onstage, but in life? When challenges loom or we don’t think we can handle the tasks set before us, what truths and practices do we turn to for peace?
Some people stuff their feelings. Some people vent them. Sometimes we try to ignore reality. Other times, we try to problem-solve it. Truth be told, our strategies for handling fear are varied—and some are more successful than others. Yet we can all learn something from the story of Gideon in Judges 6:
God wants to give us something far better than our default coping strategies.
You see, Gideon was a fearful man who lived during a fear-provoking time. The Midianites were oppressing the people of Israel. They had raided their crops and killed their livestock until the people were desperate and starving. And so, fearful Gideon was coping with the situation the best way he knew how—by “beating out wheat in the wine press” (verse 11). Basically, he was half-hiding and half-problem-solving how to feed his family.
Yet God didn’t let him stay there. As the angel of the LORD called Gideon to get up and go defeat the Midianites personally, he gave him a new way to handle his fears. Just look at what happens starting in verse 22:
Gideon saw that he was the LORD ’s angel; and Gideon said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Because I have seen the LORD’s angel face to face!” The LORD said him, “Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die.”
Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD, and called it “The LORD is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. That same night, the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it. Then build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.’
In these verses, Gideon discovered a truth to rely on and then demonstrated a practice that carried him forward in the face of fear.
1) A truth to rely on: The LORD is peace.
Through his interaction with the angel of the LORD, Gideon became convinced that “the LORD is peace.” Peace isn’t just something God gives—it’s who He is! That means there can be no true and lasting peace apart from Him but also that, if we’re in relationship with God, we have a peace that can’t be stolen by our circumstances.
The word for “peace” in this verse is the Hebrew word “Shalom,” which means so much more than a mere sense of calm. Shalom speaks of wholeness, of a well-rounded well-being that can be ours.
Shalom comes, first, from being at peace with God. You know, I think the reason Gideon was frightened at standing before “the Angel of the LORD” was because he knew he was a sinner standing in the presence of holiness. “The Angel of the Lord” was more than just any angel, after all. That name is often used to denote a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in Scripture. So, while we can’t say for certain, it’s possible that Gideon stood before Jesus Himself in this moment and became fearfully aware of his unworthiness.
Yet God didn’t strike Him down. He spoke peace to him. Why? Well, perhaps because it was Jesus whom Gideon stood before—Jesus, who makes it possible for sinful people to stand before the Father, without fault and with great joy ( Jude 1:24).
Shalom also spills over into peace for life. I find it beautiful that God revealed Himself as Jehovah Shalom (the LORD is Peace) right before he sent a fearful man to do a frightening task. “The LORD is Peace” is a truth we need to remember when we’re scared.
Our peace isn’t dependent on the courage we can muster. It isn’t dependent on outcomes we can’t control. It isn’t even dependent on our feelings, which are calm one minute and turbulent the next.
Our peace is dependent on two unchanging things: God being God and God being with us. If those two things are true (and they always are) we can be whole. We can have that sense of well-rounded well-being, even when the world around us is anything but okay. The LORD Himself is our peace and well-being.
2) A practice to carry us forward: W.E.D.
In response to his new, intimidating calling—and what he had learned about God—Gideon did 3 things, represented by the acronym “WED.” And the more I study this passage, the more I feel it is calling us to do the very same things when we face fears today.
Worship God. The first thing Gideon did, spontaneously, after his conversation with the LORD was to build an altar in honor of Him. And then the first thing the LORD commanded him to do after that, was to replace his family’s idols with an altar and worship Him—the One true God—there.
When God reveals Himself to us, we are not called to merely note the facts and move on. We are called to worship Him—to respond to His goodness with loving adoration. We are also to make sure we are worshipping rightly. While we may not be called to literally tear down Asherah poles and replace them with physical altars, our right worship just might involve tearing down the interests, beliefs, passions and comforts that get more of us than we give to God.
Worshipping God, and God alone, in this way prepares us to move forward in the face of fear. With our hearts and eyes full of the LORD, our problems become right-sized and we become strengthened by God’s goodness. And when victory over our fears comes, God will get all the glory.
Establish Reminders of who God is. When we face challenges, it’s easy to worship God one minute and forget His goodness the next. Fear has a way of distracting us from the truths that could actually give us courage. So, I love that the altar Gideon built in verse 24 became a permanent reminder for him. Whenever he looked at that altar, he would have remembered that “the LORD is Peace.”
It makes me wonder: what reminders of God’s goodness could we intentionally place around our lives? And how might those reminders strengthen us for the challenges we face?
Do it Trembling, but Talking to God. Judges 6:27 is a very honest verse. Even though Gideon has just learned that “The LORD is Peace,” when he went to obey God he was still afraid. It says, “Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.”
Knowing the God who is peace, doesn’t mean that we will never experience fear again. But it does mean He will give us a way through our fears. Gideon was afraid, but he obeyed anyway. And throughout the entire story of Gideon you’ll notice: he was not a brave man. He had doubts and misgivings and fears—but he took them to the Lord, who was his peace, and found the reassurance and guidance he needed.
He became victorious, not because he was fearless, but because He took his fears to the Lord.
God gave Gideon something far better than his default coping strategies—He gave him Himself. And He wants to do the same for us. May the LORD, who is our Peace, lead us forward to face our fears.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my reading plan: “Grateful for God” which explores God’s character. To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
Written by Paige K. Burhans
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
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