The Wisdom of Purah: Gideon’s mentor

Judges 7:9-11 When God gave Gideon an instruction He knew how Gideon felt and encouraged him by getting him to take Purah with him. That was all the strength he needed (Heb 11:32)!

For Gideon:
1) God had a better opinion of him than he had of himself  (Ch 6:11-12) God always sees you differently from the way you see yourself. To see who you’re really made to be it starts by seeing yourself through His eyes.

2) When he answered the call of God on his life, his family’s opinion of him changed (Ch 6:15) Understand that you’re not alone in this. Gideon also experienced opposition from family members. Just like he did, keep holding to what God has promised you and don’t give up because He hasn’t given up on you!

3) His family was into witchcraft, sorcery etc, so there were no miracles (Ch 6:25-26)

4) Gideon discovered that his enemies had a better opinion of him (Ch 7:9-11) This was in fact David’s experience as well. He writes, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.” (Psalm 23:5).

Wisdom (knowledge applied in the right situation):
a) comes with humility (Phil 2:3)
b) requires having information

Why Purah?
1) Purah was more experienced, older in age and more mature
2) Purah was loyal to Gideon
3) Purah took pleasure in seeing Gideon get credit for what he had done

The key lessons to learn from Purah
The important things to note about Purah are:
a) He choose to be a mentor to Gideon. He was right there by his side and pushed him when he needed help.
b) God used Purah to further increase Gideon’s self-esteem. He did this through remaining loyal to Gideon.
c) Because Purah was older and more mature, he was able to properly guide Gideon into becoming the person that God wanted him to be. That illustrates the importance of the value of people.

At the end of the day, whatever it is we choose to embark on in life, through that journey we’ll need mentors in in our lives.  Not only do we not know the best decision to make, we also are unaware of whether or not we’re going the right direction. I know I feel like that more often than not. That’s why I have friends who keep me accountable for each area of my life so that they can help bring out the best in me. In the race of life, they don’t help me lose by telling me what I want to hear, they help me win by telling me what I need to hear. Even if and when it hurts. Getting someone to mentor you is, in fact, one of the 6 key facts about wisdom. The excellent thing about Purah is that he exemplifies what it means to be a leader and I believe that’s something we can all learn.