Judges 6 introduces us to Gideon, who encounters God as he fearfully threshes wheat in a hidden place where he hopes his enemies won’t find him. God then commands him to tear down his family’s pagan altars and build a new one to sacrifice to the Lord. He completes this assignment at night, because he’s also afraid of what his family and the townspeople may do to him (v 27). These verses make it very clear that Gideon is not naturally courageous.

As the story continues in Judges 7, Gideon assembles an army to fight against 3 enemy forces that formed an alliance against Israel. God tells him to send home anyone who is timid or afraid (v 3). 12,000 leave and 10,000 remain. God then directs Gideon to watch how each remaining person drinks water from a stream. As a result of this test, only 300 men remain. 

Those men are divided into 3 groups, and each person is given a horn and a jar with a torch. They win the battle by simply blowing their horns, breaking their jars and shouting, “A word for the Lord and for Gideon.” They never even draw their swords! 

Can you imagine how each person in that tiny group must have felt going up against a vast number of strong enemies armed with weapons that kill? Talk about fear-inducing! Yet the Bible and history have other examples of small bands of fighters who accomplished great and mighty deeds against that type of overwhelming odds. We tend to remember their leaders—like David—but never acknowledge the unnamed and unsung heroes who stood with them.

A month ago, I was part of a small group of Vineyard folks, who went to eastern Tennessee to serve those still recovering from the severe flood damage caused by Hurricane Helene. We had the privilege of helping both individual families as well as a local church of 150 unsung heroes. The church had not spent months or years training their members as disaster relief experts. Like Gideon’s army, the group simply showed up and answered God’s call to rebuild a community of 1500 men, women and children, who all used the same grocery stores and gas stations. Everyone needed extraordinary acts of loving kindness—even the unsung heroes who were helping others. 

That church surrendered their buildings to feed thousands daily and house another thousand volunteers who were strangers. They opened their spaces to store boxes and boxes of supplies that arrived daily from locations all over the country. They were willing to live with sacrificial chaos in order to restore order and love to others.

While we were there organizing and serving the church, the pastor received a letter of commendation from their U.S. Senator, Bill Hagerty. In the letter, he thanked them for their remarkable leadership and service, their compassion and inspirational dedication. He praised their tireless efforts to raise funds and bring “hope and healing to countless members of a devastated and hurting community,” which exemplified “the responsibilities and opportunities we have as Christians to care for our neighbors.” He ended the letter by saying, “Your faith in action…has made a lasting impact and serves as a powerful example of selfless service to us all.”

It was an incredible honor to watch this band of unsung heroes at work. Each person from the church with whom we interacted was genuinely kind, gracious, positive, engaged and humble. From the pulpit and individually, they thanked us for helping—although our contributions seemed so small in comparison to their year-long lifestyle of sacrifice. They are ordinary people doing extraordinary deeds in pushing back darkness. Even if their names are never recorded in a book here on earth, I am sure God has and is still recording each one of their names in His divine hero book published in the halls of heaven. 

Their example reminds me of Paul’s words to the Ephesians (1:15-16a NLT): “Ever since I first heard of your strong faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for God’s people everywhere, I have not stopped thanking God for you.”