Throw out the Fleece

The other day, I was reading in the book of Judges, and I came across the infamous passage that I have heard countless times as a young person — Gideon and the fleece. Often, this passage was lifted up as a great passage of faith and something to be emulated in our own lives. 

Have a question about what you should do in your life? Have a question about what decision to make in this area? Wondering what God’s will is for your life? If any of these questions found their way into your mind, the solution given was to throw out a fleece to discern the proper will of God. 

While on the surface this seems to be a good idea and even a spiritual idea — I really want to make sure that God is in this situation and a part of my decision — in its context, the fleece is actually an example of Gideon struggling to trust what God had already told him. Gideon wasn’t using the fleece to determine God’s will; He had already been told what God wanted him to do. Gideon was using the fleece because he wasn’t trusting what God had already revealed to him. And while God graciously accommodated Gideon’s request, His willingness to accommodate Gideon does not turn the fleece into a biblical model for discerning His will.

The approach of throwing out the fleece moves us from a place of responding to the truth of the Word of God into a place of emotional experientialism. It grounds our decisions not in the concrete biblical truth that provides the foundation for our lives, but in subjective experiences that we then interpret as God's direction.

For example, I have this job opportunity and I am going to throw out a fleece. “God, if you want me to take this job, have someone talk to me about it by the end of the week.” The problem is that God has not given us this as a method for discerning His will. We have created the test, and then we have assigned the meaning to the outcome.

What are some ways this kind of decision-making can undermine our faith?

First, your trust is placed in your interpretation of an experience rather than in the truth God has revealed.

This is easy to right off when you don’t get the job. “See, God wasn’t in it.” But what happens when you do get the job…and it is terrible. Your boss is a jerk, your coworkers are cold, and the tasks you are assigned drive you up a wall. You are now forced to try to find some mystical reason God wanted you to have this job because the fleece told you it was God’s will. Your trust is not in what God has given us in His Word (the primary source of Wisdom for a believer), but rather in the fleece that you have thrown out. 

Second, your faith is only as strong as your emotions and experiences. 

Because your decision is not grounded in concrete biblical truth, it does not carry the strength of that foundation. You have tied your decision to the emotionalism and experience of the fleece. That leaves two profound areas of disillusionment that Satan can weaponize against us: God and ourselves. When the decisions based on a fleece don’t turn out the way that we think they should, we can become frustrated with God.

We find ourselves thinking: “God, I was following ‘You,’ I was trusting ‘Your plan.’ Why has it turned out this way?” Our trust in God is undercut by a fleece that wasn’t His idea to begin with. We establish the parameters, we establish the verdict, we make the decision based on ourselves, and then leave God with the blame when it doesn’t go the way we thought it should leaving us with the potential to become resentful and disconnected, feeling like God did us wrong. 

We can also become frustrated with ourselves leaving us with thoughts like: How did I get this so wrong? I must not have a good relationship with God if I misinterpreted the fleece. I must not be in God’s will right now.” Instead of evaluating our decision through the wisdom God has given us, we begin evaluating our relationship with God through whether we believe we correctly interpreted an experience. All of these are tools Satan delights to use to stunt and stop our spiritual growth. 

So, how do we make spiritually discerning decisions? 

First, throw out the fleece. Get rid of it as a spiritual decision-making process. The answer to our uncertainty is not to invent a test and ask God to reveal His will through circumstances. Instead, we should move away from emotional, experiential decision-making and into biblically informed decision-making.

Second, base your decisions based on what you know to be true from the Word. Am I submitted to the Spirit (Ephesians 5:17–18)? Am I pursuing a sanctified life (1 Thessalonians 4:3)? Am I faithful in proclaiming the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20)? Am I a part of a local church in its membership and faithful in using my gifting in that church (1 Cor. 12)? Am I walking faithfully with Christ? If the answer to those questions is yes, and not just in word but in action, then we are in the will of God. It is not some secret, mystical will. 

From there, we are free to exercise wisdom. We can pray for wisdom, seek godly counsel, consider our responsibilities, evaluate the opportunities in front of us, and make the best decision we can with the information God has given us. Choosing one biblically permissible job over another doesn’t move me out of the will of God if those 5 questions are the center of my life and the motivation for my life. 

God’s will for us is not a mystery. God’s will for us the same as it has been for His people for generations. God’s will is that we live life as a submitted, obedient, and faithful follower of Christ regardless of where we are located or what job we have. Throw out the experiential fleece and enjoy the freedom of Christ. If you want to do more reading/study on this topic, reach out and we can set up a time to talk and provide some resources. 

Serving Together, 

Pastor Derek