(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)

There’s no doubt about it, Gideon was hiding. When God found him and called him out to free his people from their enemies, he was hiding in a winepress where he was beating out wheat on the floor where they usually stomp around in their bare feet pressing the juice out of grapes. He would have much rather been making wine, but wine was a luxury when they were starving from lack of food. 

They were all hiding — the whole nation — hiding in the hills and the caves that surrounded the fertile valleys where the Midianites had stolen their crops and their livestock and burned their homes. 

We hide too, but for different reasons.

Inside 

A change is happening on the inside

And it makes no sense for me to hide

What I don’t want you to see

Come see

Everything that lies inside me

‘Cause amidst the mess I’ve made of me

You might see the Lord

So goes the title song of my album, Inside. It speaks of transparency and vulnerability as part of how God speaks through our lives in the middle of what we would rather hide. But just how transparent and vulnerable am I willing to be? That’s a big question. This gets closer to home when you consider the next song on the same album.

I’ve been hidin’; I’ve been hidin’

Makin’ sure that there’s no one around

I’ve been foolin’; I’ve been foolin’

Foolin’ around where I think I won’t be found

There appears to be a conflict here. On one hand I realize that God can speak through me in spite of “the mess I’ve made of me.” But on the other hand, I don’t want my mess to appear as bad as everyone else’s. So I go back into hiding, even though I don’t need to. I may let you see a few things I struggle with, but I’m very selective about what I let you see and what I keep hidden.

The most powerful messages God has to speak through our lives come when we have no choice in the matter. We literally get ripped out from hiding and thrown in the middle of the room and our protective guard is stripped off in the process. That’s when the Lord shows up in power. Our vulnerability and transparency are the keys to God’s power. The rest of the song captures this.

But He found me and He pulled me out

Before you like a trembling lamb

I don’t know where we go from here

But I know I need you

The closer we can live to the worst and the best of us, the more we will know of the power of God in our lives. Gideon is an example of this. He was full of fear but he came out of hiding anyway and God met him with everything he needed to free his people. Gideon found out that everything came from God and nothing came from him except to show up. But first he had to come out of hiding.

TO VIEW A VIDEO OF GIDEON BY THE WINEPRESS CLICK ON THE BANNER.