PUTTING OUT THE FLEECE:
DISCOVERING GOD’S WILL FOR YOUR LIFE
You have a big decision to make! Who you will marry; where you will live; whether to invest money in a certain company. Each of us faces great and small forks in the road that leave us with decisions to make. As a church community, we have had to make decisions about adding to our facilities and hiring a pastor. How do you make those decisions?
By one or a combination of methods, we make decisions on our major and minor issues:
· By instinct – we just know or sense what is the right thing to do. Each has a measure of wisdom that is innate. You have a feeling that this is the right job or the best person to marry.
· By experience – You’ve done it before; you’ve been here before. In the past it worked; it will work again.
· By consulting a friend or expert – You know people who can help you to figure out the direction to go with a project or a major change in your life.
We make most of our decisions in this way, we don’t even give it a second thought. And the truth is, we don’t really include God in our decision-making for most of these forks in the road. We don’t! Or we do make a decision and then ask God to bless what we have already decided.
But if we were to ask God for his input into these matters, what would that look like? How would we know what his will is for us in these choices? Is there a chance that we are missing the mark in our choices, and we are not in God’s will?
Many young adult Christians grapple with these questions. They are at the beginning of their journey and want to make sure they are heading the right direction. Older believers have gone through many of these forks in the road and are not as concerned about the right path. For both young and experienced believers, this is an important question: How do I make decisions in my life that please the Lord?
1. Gideon seeks God’s will with a Fleece (Judges 6:36-40)
I don’t hear this very often anymore, but Christians used to talk about “putting out a fleece” to make decisions. This practice comes from the story of Gideon in Judges 6.
Gideon was called by God to fight against the marauding Midianites. The people of Israel had sinned against God and were worshiping idols. So, God allowed these raiders to steal crops and livestock from Israelite farms until they cried out to God. When they did, an angel of the LORD comes to Gideon and says, “Hey there, mighty warrior!”
Gideon is afraid. Everybody’s afraid. They feel God has abandoned them. Gideon seeks some assurances that this is really what God wants of him. So, he puts out a fleece.
A fleece is the coat of a sheep, the soft wool skin. It’s like a sponge. Gideon lays out a fleece on the threshing floor and tells God that IF (notice the big “IF” in this test) he will really save Israel using Gideon, make the fleece wet and the ground dry. Then he’ll know.
Sure enough the fleece is wet, the ground is dry, and a bowlful of dew is wrung out of the fleece. Gideon must have thought it was a coincidence. This is a natural phenomenon and remains unconvinced. He sets up a second test for God. This time he says to make the ground wet and the fleece dry. This is not normal. This is called a supernatural phenomenon. There is no reason for the fleece to be dry while the ground is wet.
John White writes, “Gideon’s fleece has become the basis of a practice among some Christians which is called ‘putting out the fleece.’ In essence, when you put out a fleece you say to God, ‘If you really want me to carry out plan A, then please make the telephone ring at 9:10 PM. Then I will know that plan A is what you want.’ You can make the fleece anything you wish, just as long as it serves as a ‘sign’ to you.”
Now there are three views on “setting out a fleece” to determine God’s will: 1) People advocate it saying we should ask for a sign from God. Gideon did it and it’s in the Bible, so why not? 2) Others say it was a sin for Gideon to put out a fleece because it showed his unbelief. 3) The understanding approach: these people recognize that Gideon did lack faith, and he should have believed God. But they also recognize that we all lack faith, and we all need assurances at times. And God DID condescend to Gideon and do what he asked.
Which way do you think I lean?
2. Unpacking “The Fleece” (Signs)
I sit between option 2 and option 3. I lean to interpreting Gideon’s fleece as a sign of unbelief while being sympathetic to those who need assurances. But let’s unpack “the fleece.”
Look at what Gideon said in the text. First, he says, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – “(36). There’s the big “IF” again which is followed by God’s PROMISE! And then he says, “…then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand as you said,” (37b). What we see then is that Gideon was not unaware of God’s will. He knew exactly what God’s will was for him.
What did God say? “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior,” (6:12) and “Go in the strength you have and save Israel…Am I not sending you?” (6:14). And again, “I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites…” (6:16). There is a clear and direct command in these words followed by the promise of God’s presence. Gideon was not looking for guidance but for assurance. There was no decision to be made – just do it. In that respect, the fleece was not an act of faith but of unbelief.
Thirdly, Gideon was dictating to God how this fleece thing was going to work. I get that Gideon lacked many things we take for granted. He didn’t have a Bible. He didn’t have the experience of faith or faithful people as examples. And he didn’t have Jesus to shepherd him in life. But telling God what to do is pretty cheeky. And for supernatural signs, Gideon had plenty of them (the angel of the LORD; his offering consumed by fire; God speaking to him; the Spirit empowering him to call troops 35).
Fourthly, “the fleece” or sign didn’t solve anything. Gideon was still wrestling with his fears just before the upcoming battle with Midian. God sends him into the camp of the enemy to overhear them talking and to discover that they too were afraid. Fear had gripped Gideon and no amount of signs would solve that fear.
Yet God is not ashamed to stoop down and reassure us in our fears. Would we call out our five-year-old for being afraid of neighborhood rottweiler? Would we call her a sissy or chicken? He is patient with our weaknesses. But we have to be careful with sign-seeking and discerning if this is from God as we make decisions. Allow me to share three stories…
When I was graduating high school, I invited a girl from church to be my date. I told her to think about it and get back to me Sunday (this was Friday). On Saturday at my sister’s farm, I was shooting at swallows with my air pistol and missing. I was anxious about the date feeling I had made a mistake. I said, “Lord, if it’s your will and Debbie says yes, let me shoot that bird off the wire.” I did nail the bird. Debbie said yes. And it was a horrible date.
My dad retired at 65 and was on limited income. But he loved cars. One weekend, dad bought a Pontiac 6000 and mom was angry. I confronted dad and asked why he did it when mom was opposed and worried. He said he prayed about it and God said, “yes.” I don’t know what the sign was, but the car turned out to be a lemon. It was a horrible car.
I read about John Wesely’s love life. Wesley was the founder of Methodism. He was a missionary down south in Georgia and while there fell in love with Sophie. She was pretty and intelligent. But Wesely was a member of the Holy Club (one of their ideals was to remain single). So, a friend suggested that they write on three pieces of paper: “Marry” and “Think not of it this year” and “Think of it no more.” Like drawing lots, they pulled one of the papers out of a container. It was the third one, “Think of it no more.” Wesley wrote in his diary, “Snatched as a brand out of the fire.”
He returned to England and met a woman named Grace. He discerned that she met seven qualities of a wife (housekeeper, nurse, companion, servant of Christ…). But his brother Charles did not agree. He thought the marriage would hamper his evangelistic work. He broke it off.
Wesley finally did marry, a wealthy widow named Mary. It was a very unhappy marriage, and they separated after 20 years. It was a horrible marriage.
Seeking God’s will is seemingly risky when signs are involved. How can we know God’s will for our lives?
3. How to know God’s will (Eph. 5:15-17)
A fellow named Gary Inrig suggested five biblical principles about finding God’s guidance in life. I believe they are helpful so I will share them with you:
a) God does not give guidance as much as he gives us a guide. He says to imagine you are in a strange city. Which would you rather have? A map or someone who knows the city? The word “guidance” does not appear in the Bible, but we do read about a guide, the Shepherd, the Lord Jesus. Some say that the angel of the LORD was Jesus – and that’s who Gideon met. I don’t know, but I do know we have the Spirit of Christ living in us. We are invited to walk with him and discover God’s will through him.
Ephesians 5:15-17 reflects this calling: “Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is…”
b) God has given us his Word. The fleece did not reveal God’s will to Gideon; God spoke to Gideon and shared his mind with him. God’s Word is God’s will for your life. He has shared his mind with you through the Scriptures. And through his Word, we get a clearer picture of what God wants. He is not as concerned about where I am (where I live) or what I am doing (doctor or plumber) than he is about what I am. God wants to transform my character so that wherever I am or whatever I am doing, it reflects his character in me.
c) Guidance is confirmed by the peace of God. Paul said, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” (Col. 3:15). If you are faced with a decision and both options are good, where you have peace will confirm your choice. God gives us that. It may not be about hitting the bullseye in life – whether you are in or out of God’s will by working at Novid or AGI – but about where you have peace about your work. Paul also counseled us, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God… (Phil 4:6-7).
d) Guidance is communicated through the desires God gives us. As we live by the Spirit of Jesus, God gives us gifts and desires and direction. He gave me a voice for speaking and I thought I would be a broadcaster, but in time he revealed another use for my voice. And I liked it. David said, “He will fulfill the desires of those who fear him,” (Ps. 145:19). When we talk about surrendering to the Lord, those unfamiliar with this kind of talk may hear loss or the negating of something we love. That may happen. Or it may be that when we give our desire to God, we find ourselves using those desires to accomplish his will.
e) Guidance can be found in the counsel of other believers. We have each other in the church. But if you want to be a surgeon, don’t talk to me, talk to Jason Unger. If you want a career in plumbing, talk to Randy. God has given us experienced and wise believing folks who have a lot to share.
A woman wanted to go on a trip to the Holy Land, Israel, and she read a brochure outlining the itinerary. She looked at the guides, the activities, and the places the group would visit. Then she noticed that she would be flying on a 747. As she went to sleep, she prayed, “Lord, is it your will that I should go to Israel?” Then she fell asleep. The next morning her alarm went off and she looked at the clock, it was 7:47 am. Then she thought, it is God’s will to go to Israel. Hmmm
You don’t need the fleece of a sheep to know God’s will, you need the Shepherd, Jesus Christ. What is the will of God? It is the voice of the Shepherd. It is not a mystical or mysterious process that requires several tests. It is simply a matter of walking with the Shepherd. And when you know his will, the next step is doing it!
AMEN
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