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Consider Gideon. If he had somehow misheard God, the results would not just be terrifying for him but catastrophic for the entire nation. He needed a faith boost, so he asked for a sign. He got an astounding one. After asking Gideon to prepare an offering, the angel touched it. The offering exploded into flames and then the angel vanished into thin air. Wow! Soon afterward, Gideon was again beginning to worry. He felt the need for yet another sign that would pump up his flagging faith. This time, he reasoned, he would leave nothing to doubt. The sign would be of his own choosing. Having pondered the matter, he decided to formulate a sign so ingenious that he knew it would annihilate all his doubts. He would put a fleece outside and if in the morning it was wet and the ground around was dry it would be such a miracle that he could be at peace, knowing for sure that God was with him and that all would be well. It happened just as he had asked. Then something totally unexpected occurred: his mind went into overdrive. What if there were some natural explanation? What if it had rained lightly early in the night and then evaporated from everywhere except where it was protected by the fleece’s fibers? Could an animal have been attracted to the fleece and urinated on it? What if . . . ? (Judges 6). He had been so sure that this was the sign he needed but soon what he had fully expected to be sky-high faith was plummeting so alarmingly that soon an ant wouldn’t trip over it. If what he was certain would be the ultimate faith-boost, giving him the peace he craved, had fizzled to nothing in minutes, we can expect the same.
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