Sometimes we just need some assurance from the Lord to solidify our faith. Stephen Wilcox calls these moments "fleeces". He recalls a story from the Old Testament where a young man named Gideon was called by the Lord to lead the army of Israel against their enemies. The Lord promised the inexperienced leader that he would be victorious. Gideon believed the Lord, but he needed some reassurance that he had heard the instructions and the promise correctly. So he asked the Lord to make dew to fall on the ground overnight but to leave a patch of sheep’s wool – a fleece – on the ground dry. Surely only the Lord could control the dew of the air. In the morning the ground all around was wet, but the wool was dry. Not quite satisfied, just in case the dry fleece was a coincidence, Gideon asked for one more assurance. This time he wanted to reverse the process and have the fleece get wet while the ground remained dry. On the next morning the ground was dry, but Gideon was able to wring the water out of the fleece. Brother Wilcox says that sometimes when we face particularly difficult tests of our faith, we may need a “fleece” to reassure us that we are hearing the word of the Lord correctly.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
First Nephi 5:8
And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak.
Sometimes we just need some assurance from the Lord to solidify our faith. Stephen Wilcox calls these moments "fleeces". He recalls a story from the Old Testament where a young man named Gideon was called by the Lord to lead the army of Israel against their enemies. The Lord promised the inexperienced leader that he would be victorious. Gideon believed the Lord, but he needed some reassurance that he had heard the instructions and the promise correctly. So he asked the Lord to make dew to fall on the ground overnight but to leave a patch of sheep’s wool – a fleece – on the ground dry. Surely only the Lord could control the dew of the air. In the morning the ground all around was wet, but the wool was dry. Not quite satisfied, just in case the dry fleece was a coincidence, Gideon asked for one more assurance. This time he wanted to reverse the process and have the fleece get wet while the ground remained dry. On the next morning the ground was dry, but Gideon was able to wring the water out of the fleece. Brother Wilcox says that sometimes when we face particularly difficult tests of our faith, we may need a “fleece” to reassure us that we are hearing the word of the Lord correctly.
Sometimes we just need some assurance from the Lord to solidify our faith. Stephen Wilcox calls these moments "fleeces". He recalls a story from the Old Testament where a young man named Gideon was called by the Lord to lead the army of Israel against their enemies. The Lord promised the inexperienced leader that he would be victorious. Gideon believed the Lord, but he needed some reassurance that he had heard the instructions and the promise correctly. So he asked the Lord to make dew to fall on the ground overnight but to leave a patch of sheep’s wool – a fleece – on the ground dry. Surely only the Lord could control the dew of the air. In the morning the ground all around was wet, but the wool was dry. Not quite satisfied, just in case the dry fleece was a coincidence, Gideon asked for one more assurance. This time he wanted to reverse the process and have the fleece get wet while the ground remained dry. On the next morning the ground was dry, but Gideon was able to wring the water out of the fleece. Brother Wilcox says that sometimes when we face particularly difficult tests of our faith, we may need a “fleece” to reassure us that we are hearing the word of the Lord correctly.
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