“Putting out a fleece” is a Christian code language for “I’ll see if circumstances confirm God wants me to do this or that.” If you’re not sure where this idea comes from, the story is in Judges 6-8.
A lot of people considering an OYC use this kind of language when describing how they are going to make a decision:
- “I’m going to apply for a job and see if God opens a door for me there. If He doesn’t, I’ll just know God doesn’t want me to go.”
- “I’m waiting to find out if I got approved for a new home loan, but if it doesn’t go through, I am going to take that as a sign from God to just go on an OYC.”
- “I’ve been praying that God will make it really clear to me whether or not I should go.”
All these statements reflect something positive: a desire to be convinced of what God’s specific will is for my decision through some visible sign.
The problem is these statements also tragically leave out faith in God’s care. They can just as easily be expressed as:
- “If God makes it really easy for me to go by giving me an great job in advance, I’ll go. Otherwise, I’m not taking any risks.”
- “If I can come up with some good reason not to go, and reasonably attribute it to God, I’m off the hook.”
- “I’m not going anywhere until God satisfies my need for certainty.”
Step out on faith. Don’t require God to grease the skids to get you moving. Put your trust in God, not in “confirming” circumstances.
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I don’t really agree with this article. It takes alot of faith to fleece God, fleecing can be a stepping out on faith. This article makes it seem wrong, faithless or weak. Ive fleeced God many times and he is faithful. I have great faith. Please be careful what you write. It’s not always encouraging. Peoples decisions to make big moves like this also involve other people in their lives, including their families, ect. I’ve also heard a lot of regrets and resentment of disciples who just got up and went without counting the cost and needing to know if it was God’s will.
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Amy, thanks for sharing that–but I think you missed the point. We’re not saying people should just get up and go without counting the cost, getting advice, or considering others. We’re saying that sign-seeking very often crosses into unfaithfulness. Imagine, for example, someone applying for a job that won’t be good for them spiritually and saying “Well, I asked God to give me a sign–if he doesn’t want me to have this job, I prayed that I won’t get hired” or “If God lets me get accepted to into university, I’ll take it as a sign not to take that job.” This isn’t considering others, getting advice or seeking God’s will. It looks a more like the kind of sign seeking Jesus condemned. That’s what we were talking about.
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I really liked this article. For a long time “putting out a fleece” was a big part of how I made decisions. This changed when I realized most of the times the things I picked don’t require the miracle. Gideons faith was built on miracles. To take the example you talked about getting a home loan doesn’t require a miracle. Also there have been times when I would get a response that didn’t confirm what I wanted and I would kind of ignore those results. It seems like we need to be careful in how we apply the lives of the people of the Bible in our own lives.
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