And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.” Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.” Judges 7:13-14
REFERENCE
Judges 7:1-22
What kind of a soldier was this man, who so believed in the superiority of an inferior (in size and military might) opposing army? His interpretation of the dream was very unbecoming of a soldier in the war front. No General would want such a man on his team. Why was he there when he so much believed in their imminent defeat and even advertised it with such strong words? It is men like this that are the ‘weak-link’ in the chain of any organization or formation of any group: lily-livered, undisciplined, unbelieving of/in the vision or goals of the organization and doubtful of its mission and actions.
It was of people like this soldier that God purged Gideon’s army, reducing it to men who are passionate, courageous and disciplined; men who believed in the vision and the mission…men who were ready to die for a cause. It is not surprising that when they met in battle, Gideon’s army trumped them and routed them. Little wonder that a pair of lions can unsettle a herd of wildebeest.
If you have someone such as this soldier for a friend, who doesn’t see any good in you or who’s quick to believe a wrong report about you at the slightest opportunity, you don’t need enemies. Such a friend will betray your friendship and abandon you when the rubber meets the road. In your store, such staff as the soldier will treat your customers discourteously because they don’t believe in your vision for good customer service. While in an organization or group, such people will let things slide because of their non-devotedness. They are the ones the devil can easily use to wreak havoc in the group/team because the devil always looks for the weakest link – the crack on the wall which he can enter through. Yes, Judah’s comes to mind.
Who’s on your team? Who is in your employment? Who are your close associations and friends? Do you have people that portray traits of this soldier described in the text in your team? It is likely that you do, and that only shows that you have people who don’t understand your vision or mission, so it is time to recast your vision and make it clearer to them. Ensure you redefine the objective of the team and the role they are meant to play in it. Hopefully, with better understanding of the vision and how important their role is in fulfilling it, they will have more belief in the team and can become committed runners that will run with the vision till they get to the finish line.
It is a good practice, every now and then, to do a ‘vision check’ on the people on your team, like God did for Gideon; you may have people going on a journey with you, whose hearts are not with you. Gideon discovered that only 300 people believed in the vision/mission out of 32,000 of his men.
SCRIPTURE PHOTO
ADDITIONAL STUDY
I Chronicles 12:16-22, Habakkuk 2:2, & Luke 19:12-23
TO DO
If you are team member in a group/organization, pray that you won’t be a burden, but someone that would run with zeal and commitment to make the vision happen.
If you are the leader of a group/organization, pray for wisdom to successfully sell your vision to those involved with it, that they would become firm believers in it and help you fulfill it.
