Gideon Goes to the Movies?

     Gideon's story in the Bible popped out at me this morning. He is about to enter battle, and God tells fearful Gideon that he can go to the border of the enemy camp to receive encouragement for his task. He sneaks up behind two heathen soldiers, overhearing one telling the other his bad dream, of an enormous boulder rolling into their camp and smashing everything... and the dreamer goes on to say that he interprets his dream to mean that Gideon's army will defeat them.

     I wonder why God didn't give that violent dream and interpretation to Gideon or to one of his men? Instead it was given to a pagan foreigner? Fearful Gideon receives faith from that dream, and bravely returns to his specially-selected 300 men, and defeats the enemy in an intriguing, God-led way. The events are absolutely, unbelievably fascinating.

     Warning! I am entering veiled, questionable, uneven terrain; I dare to liken Gideon's story to my "Julie & Julia" -like relationship with particular Hollywood movies (Ever After, You've Got Mail, The Matrix, etc.). In select movies I see key challenges to which my spirit identifies, with follow-through and hope-filled outcomes that I embrace: Is this practice similar to overhearing a film-maker's...  "dream" and "interpretation"??

     Gideon's story gives me unexpected pause. Have I, just maybe, allowed my cautiously-viewed-repertoire of "faith" movies to provide me, situation-specific, hope? In other words, does this sometimes fearful follower of Christ gingerly "overhear" needed inspiration, from regular movies? and are you welcome, maybe and perchance, to be inspired in the same way as well?