Test the Test

Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” [Judges 6.39]

It just occurred to me that the "fleece" was not the deal. The real point was not in whether the fleece was wet or dry, but rather, that it was wet one time and dry the next.

I think I have misunderstood this 'test' up to this point. I have felt like "if such and such happens, then I will conclude..." But Gideon's test was not this way. He actually put the test to the test. The "fleece" Gideon used originally, he then used for a complete opposite result ruling out any possibility of happenstance.

In life as I have experienced it, if something is lying out on the ground and a dew falls, that object is just as wet as the ground. To lay something out and see if it will be wet when all else is dry is a good test, right? But then to lay it out a second time to see if the object will then be dry and all the ground be wet, is putting the test to the test.

Gideon's test ruled out any possibility of chance. Actually both results he got with his fleece would have been unusual. However, he tested the test just to be absolutely sure. The rest is history.

Father, I believe Your peace is enough to guide me. However, help me to understand the necessity of being sure. Help me to be willing to test the test - even if it is to test the peace I have. Help me to understand what that would look like.