“The Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’” (Judges 6:14, NM).
There is a law that might have been very beneficial in some cases, but in others proves to be quite inefficient and, in addition, anti-biblical. I’m referring to the law of minimum effort. That law is understood as the use of the least amount of resources to accomplish a goal.
The problem is God is not a god of minimum efforts and doesn’t expect that from us.
The children of Israel were in a situation that seemed to be governed by that law. They had just conquered Canaan. They had divided the land among the tribes, but instead of moving forward in the territory, they had been satisfied with settling down right there and ending the war.
God had fulfilled His part. He had delivered them and helped them in the conquest, but the Israelites didn’t seem to be very eager to drive the inhabitants away. Instead, they formed alliances with them and ended up becoming slaves to idolatry.
It may seem ridiculous that a people who had been enslaved for so long, when being granted their freedom would again submit to spiritual slavery. However, that’s what happened.
God had promised them that if they obeyed, they would defeat their enemies. Moses as well as Joshua had told them that. But Israel preferred to cross their arms, putting forth a minimum effort. A new idolatrous generation was born and, with that, a prolonged time of oppression by various nations. That’s how liberators also sprang up among the children of Israel; but there were well-established enemies who raided their fields and mistreated their inhabitants.
The people cried out. God heard them and chose Gideon to help Him.
One day, the angel of the Lord appeared to him and assured him He was with him. But instead of thanking and praising his benefactor, Gideon began to doubt and question the reason for his current condition. He believed in a God who had done great wonders in the past, but had now supposedly abandoned them.
God didn’t answer his question. He wasn’t going to get involved in useless dialogue. He commanded Gideon to go and save Israel.
Today we also run the risk of believing in a God of the past, of limiting Him with our laws of minimum effort. But let’s not be mistaken. God is a God of the present, who gave everything, is with us at all times and also expects our greatest effort.
