Now announce to the army, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. – Judges 7:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 1, 2019): Judges 7

Veronica Roth, in her book “Divergent,” argues that “Fear doesn't shut you down; it wakes you up.” Fear, in proper proportion, helps you to focus on the threats that exist around you. In times of battle, fear is a necessity. It makes you focus at the task at hand, it may not heighten your senses (as in fear does not allow you to hear better), but it does make you pay attention to the sounds that you are hearing, and to the sights that you are seeing. Fear is an important survival response. And we need to remember that fear is not unnecessary; it is important to meet the struggle that lies ahead.

Even when we are not in times of battle, fear is important. I remember paying a visit to my grandfather late in his life. Grandpa Mullen was a singer, the artist featured on numerous recordings, and someone experienced at singing in a concert setting, and often singing in front of hundreds of people. On this day, Grandpa was practicing. He was going to sing one song in his small church on the following Sunday, performing in front of maybe fifty people. As I walked in on him, he continued to sing, but walked over and put his arm around me. Grandpa had a booming, powerful, baritone voice. He finished his song, and then he turned to me and told me of his upcoming performance and admitted that he was nervous. I was confused. My grandfather had sung in concerts to audiences many times the size of the small congregation that he would share a single song within a few days. And that was exactly the question that I posed to him. Why are you nervous? I will never forget his response. “Garry, if you are not nervous, if there is no fear inside you about the path on which you are about to embark, then you are not giving the task your very best.”

The advice of my grandfather, given to me three decades ago, has changed the way that I read this verse. Essentially, God is instructing Gideon to get rid of the very soldiers that he would need for the fight that was coming. Gideon was getting rid of the soldiers who were smart enough to be scared. Walking into battle, all of them should have been trembling in fear, but apparently, ten thousand soldiers were too stupid to understand the necessity of fear. The heroes were sent home. Those who would excel in battle would leave the army before the fight would even begin.

And those who Gideon had left with him were essentially too foolish to understand that, as they headed into battle, fear was not only expected, it was needed if they were going to excel at the fight on which they were about to embark.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges 8