God then commanded Gideon to prepare for battle that very night (v. 9). He offered the judge a further sign that He would be victorious, and Gideon immediately seized it. God did not rebuke Gideon's normal fear of going into battle against such overwhelming odds. Instead He strengthened his faith.
"Gideon is no fearless all-pro linebacker, no General Patton and John Wayne rolled into one huge ball of true grit.
"We sometimes dupe ourselves into thinking that a real servant of Christ is only someone who is dynamic, assured, confident, brash, fearless, witty, adventuresome, or glamorous--with one or two appearances on a Christian television network. Don't think you are unusable because you don't have that air about you. Christ takes uncertain and fearful folk, strengthens their hands in the oddest ways, and makes them able to stand for him in school or home or work."163
"Gideon's request with the fleece reflected war in his heart: he was fearful and lacked faith. Interestingly the reduction of Gideon's army in the structure of the text falls precisely between his unfounded request for a fleece and God's exposure of his fear. Therefore the reduction of the army was not so much intended to glorify God (by demonstrating His ability to deliver with only 300) as it was to put Gideon in a position where his fear would be exposed. The very thing Gideon had hoped to achieve by the fleece demonstration--some kind of self-assurance that things would turn out well--was the very carpet' that God pulled out from beneath him. Gideon sought to gain some security by his self-conceived sign with the fleece, and though God acquiesced to that request, He immediately countered by putting Gideon in an even more vulnerable position. If Gideon struggled to trust God with 32,000 Israelites against a Midianite force of 135,000 (see 8:10), how would he react when he had only a force of 300? In this light the words of God in 7:10 take on great significance."164
