Inigo Montoya, after failing to best The Man In Black in a fencing duel, remembers his old orders and follows them. Speaking to nobody in a drunken monologue, he slurs these memorable lines as we enter the third act of the classic film The Princess Bride:

“You told me to go back to the beginning, so I have. This is where I am, and this is where I’ll stay. I will not be moved! I do not budge! When a job went wrong, you went back to the beginning. Well, this is where we got the job, so it’s the beginning.”

There are times in life when hardship necessitates we revisit our roots. Doing so centers us and reminds us why we are fighting and what we are fighting for in the first place.

Throughout the Bible we are often reminded to be reminded. The word remember occurs hundreds of times! In the Old Testament God calls his people to remember through building altars and singing songs and telling stories to the next generation. In the New Testament Jesus admonishes the church to remember and do the things they did in earlier days. Revisiting God’s faithfulness and power in past times is a life-giving practice for those who follow the Lord.

Why do we need to remember? Because we forget!

In the book of Judges we find a beautiful illustration of these things. Gideon was a man who found himself scurrying to gather the remains of his harvest before the impending invasion of an enemy nation. It was there, at the threshing floor, that he experienced an incredible epiphany in which God called him to stand, fight, and lead his people in victory over their oppressors.

Gideon does well. But following through on our dreams and visions is never easy. As time goes on he finds himself in a crisis of faith as he realizes just how impossible his victory is without God’s intervention. That’s when he initiates the famous sign of the fleece. He prays twice, very specifically, asking God to meet him and bring some encouragement as he prepares to step out in faith and risk everything.

You might know the rest of the story. God answers, the enemy is defeated, and we later find Gideon’s name among the “Hall of Faith” in the New Testament book of Hebrews. Amazing!

But let us notice one small detail in this story. Where did Gideon ask for God’s confirmation? Of all the places he could have done it, and the passage notes this, he chose to initiate this faith test on the threshing floor.

Why was this? I cannot help but wonder if he was purposely revisiting the sight of his original visitation from God, also at the threshing floor!

Let me now ask you, reader: Where is your threshing floor? Where is the place God has spoken the most deeply to you, and what did he say there? 

In an age when all hell is breaking loose upon any who seek to follow the narrow way of Jesus, let us remember where we started with God and recover the unstained faith of a child!