There will be times in your life that, if you did not know you were doing what God had asked you to, you would expect to experience certain failure. What God told Gideon to do was lethal. He would most certainly be killed. His own people would more than likely mock him or even kill him themselves. It was impossible. Gideon’s nation had been in abject bondage for seven years. Nothing had changed. The Midianites were just as powerful and fierce as they had always been. The Israelites were just as weak. The only difference was the call of God.
God did not promise He would provide Gideon’s men with the latest weaponry. He did not assure his fearful protege that he would have the best army or military tools. All God promised was that He would be with Gideon. The divine presence was worth far more than a division of chariots (or tanks).
This is why we must know when God has called us to a task. It may well be the only thing that sustains us when times become difficult. Do you know that what you are doing is something God called you to? Can you sense God’s presence with you as you do it?