There are at least five major lessons we learn from the story of Gideon in Judges 6-8. Here’s the first one:
The way to freedom is through surrender.
In this story the Midianites represent the hardships that come our way when we insist on being the captain of our ship and the master of our fate – when we insist on being the one who calls the shots instead of God. When we reject God as Ruler of our lives, we invite hardship after hardship until our lives are ravaged and reduced to nothing in the same way the Midianites ravaged the nation of Israel. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “…A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” No matter how righteously we live in this life, we still live in a world corrupted by sin and bad things sometimes still happen even to good people. But there are so many destructive consequences that CAN be avoided when we surrender the leadership of our lives to God. Freedom from the inevitable destructive consequences of rebellion against God comes through surrender to God’s leadership as Adonai – Master and Ruler of your life. James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” That is, when you’re submitted to God’s rule over your life, the devil can’t wreak havoc in your life as He can when you aren’t submitted to God.