After Deborah, Israel had peace for 40 years; but, as usual, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord and began worshipping other gods, Baal, and Asherah. They were being oppressed by the Midian, who would come in and devour all their crops as soon as they were ready, and eat all their livestock. The Lord heard Israel’s cries for help, so he sent Gideon, a prophet. After a couple of tests to make sure it was God speaking to him, he gathered men to go against them. But God wanted all the credit, and sorted them out, down to only 300. Gideon went with his servant to scope out the competition, and got close enough to hear a dream one of the men had. In the dream Gideon defeated them; this gave him the confidence he needed, but caused fear to grow in the Midian. When Gideon armed his men with trumpets, and jars of fire, and surrounded them, it caused such a stir and fear within them, that some ended up killing themselves, and others ran for their lives.
This is a much longer story with many details; I’ve summarized it to bring out a point; sometimes all it takes to become defeated is a rumor, lots of noise, and flashes of light. Make sure you dig deep into what is causing you fear; maybe the threat is minor, and can be easily overcome.
Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the LORD set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. Judges 7:21-22
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