From Judges 6:1-10.

Sin is oppressive.

It eats us alive. We think sin will fill our soul. This is why we chase after it when enticed. The created order becomes our god. Then inside the cycle of sin, we begin to fear and hide from others.

We hide because we feel the oppression and the shame.

Oppression is when someone or something has something over us. We cannot break free because they hold us down.

Shame is when we hide because of “what they’d say.” We hide because we don’t want to be vulnerable in front of anyone.

We can’t get out of hiding because of oppression.
We don’t want to get out of hiding because of shame.

Not getting out of hiding continues the cycle of sin and being eaten alive by sin.

For what we know about Gideon — the fleece and the army of 300 — we don’t realize this is a story of victory over sin, oppression and shame.

When we find Gideon, he and his people are in a cycle of sin yet again. So an enemy has oppressed them. They’re fearful. They’re in hiding. All because sin has eaten them alive.

I see Gideon in me. This is why I’m drawn to Gideon. Hiding because I’m afraid. Afraid of what they’d say. Oppressed because sin has beat me down. Not stepping into God’s full calling because it is safe right where I am.

Just writing this is me breaking through fear, hiding, oppression and shame.

But God doesn’t want it this way. God sent a prophet to the people to tell them of the deliverance God provided in the past. God’s faithfulness to deliver in the past is to get us to trust him to deliver us in the future. God wants to break people free from the cycle of sin…free from the oppression…free from the shame.

We just have to let God deliver us.