Leadership Lesssons from the life of Gideon

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Judges chapter 6 and 7 talks about a powerful story of God using a weak, insignificant man to give a great victory and deliverance to a whole nation. Here are some of the lessons God taught me through this great story.

  • No complex solutions but simple trust and obedience (7 v16)

When faced with a powerful enemy, human inclination is to think of a complex solution with complex logistics and several other factors! No one would have come out with a solution involving trumpets, jars and lights. With God on our side we don’t need complex solutions all the time. We just need to be in a place of quietness and trust and simply obey God.

  • Sometimes our own actions can limit God (6 v35)

It was Gideon who sent invitation to all the people to join him in the battle(chapter 6 verse 35). But God said to Gideon (chapter 7 verse 2), “you have too many people I cannot  the enemies in to your hands.” Sometimes our actions can limit God from doing what he wants. So we need to make sure we are in tune with God before taking any major decisions.

  • God is interested in quality than quantity (7:6)

God asked Gideon to send the people back home who are fearful. He then sifted the people based on how they drink water. God chose the three hundred who drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. Some bible scholars say, that drinking water with cupped hands shows alertness as others who kneeled down must have kept the weapons down when they drank the water. Whilst we don’t know the actual reason behind God’s selection, one thing is sure. God is not interested in how many people we have. He is interested in what kind of people we are.

  • Our enemies are afraid of us and they know we are capable of destroying their kingdoms (7:13)

Gideon was a fearful man by nature. God asked Gideon to “eavesdrop” his enemy’s conversation about him. Gideon heard his enemies were afraid of him that he is going to destroy them. This revelation totally transformed him! Our enemy satan is well aware of what we are capable of through Christ. He is afraid of us and he knows that we are capable of destroying his kingdom when we join hands with God.

  • A leader has to be transformed first before he can transform a nation (7 v15)

Chapter 6 and 7 contains 65 verses in total. Out of these, 57 verses are about Gideon’s transformation from a fearful man to a confident leader. The victory for the nation was summarized in just 4 verses. A leader has to be transformed first before he can transform a nation. God will wait however long it might take because he knows what a transformed leader is capable of.

  • God can give victory to a nation with just empty jars that are ready to be broken (7 v19)

God didn’t give a submarine or a sophisticated military weapon to Gideon. He gave victory with “empty jars which were broken”. Throughout the bible God chose weak people who were flawed and insignificant. God loves empty jars that are ready to be broken. Our brokenness can result in healing for many. God does not call the qualified, but he qualifies the called. Paul said, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us”.

  • A leader should lead an exemplary life (7 v17)

After Gideon got transformed he told the people, “Watch me, Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.” A leader should live such a life that he can boldly say, “Watch me, follow my lead and do exactly as I do.”

This message is written by Bro. Davidson Samuel who is an IT Professional / Subject Matter Expert in Banking domain, based out of Scotland, UK.

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