Oleksii Polosin. Overcoming Fear

The boys of two neighboring villages used to bully each other. Between those villages there was a lake with a bridge over it. Once Philip had to run some of his mother's errands to the neighboring village. Coming up to the bridge he saw a group of boys from that village standing there. He realized that if he went on he would get in a fight with the adversary outnumbering him and being much stronger, but if he got frightened and turned back he would fail his mother. Keeping his pace Philip prayed and asked Jesus Christ for protection.

Next moment he heard a desperate cry for help: in the nearby lake a girl from the neighboring village was struggling for life. Without any hesitation the boy jumped into the water, got her out of the lake and carried over the bridge. Now the boys as his personal enemies were no longer worth his attention - the boy was busy caring for the saved girl. And a miracle happened: his former enemies rushed to help him. Thus with God's help Philip, just like Gideon, overcame his fear and “defeated” the “enemy” outnumbering him. After these events Philip gained authority not only in his own village but in the nearby too. Nobody ever bullied him more.

Judges 7:1-22

What encouraged Gideon to lessen the strength of his army from thirty thousand to tree hundred men and emboldened him to go against the Midianites army outnumbering his?