Dear Pastor,

As I sit down to write a note to my pastor friends, I recall Gideon’s state of mind. The way Gideon saw himself was greatly different than God’s perspective of Gideon. Gideon was obviously fearful; however, God saw him as a man of valor and a great warrior. Gideon, in Judges 6:13, said, “The Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian”. Gideon needed more than a Sabbath Service at his synagogue; he needed God. God was choosing him to deliver Israel. Gideon was an ordinary man and he was a man overwhelmed with fear. He was like we are at times; he wanted a sign that it was really God who was talking to him. “If now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speaks with me.” (Judges 6:17)

When Gideon saw that it was the Angel of the Lord, he said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now, I have seen the Angel of the Lord “face to face”. The Lord said to him, “ Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar to the Lord and named it, The Lord is Peace. ( Jehovah Shalom - Judges 6:21-24). Gideon experienced Peace in God’s presence. His Peace was the result of his encounter with JEHOVAH SHALOM. This word, Shalom, means completeness, nothing lacking, no broken relationships, prosperous in every sense of the word. It is everything properly aligned and harmonious; it is PEACE.