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Never Outnumbered with God

Posted by Erik Hall on

 
 

When the apostle Paul is praying to God so that God might remove some insurmountable hardship that was afflicting him…   God declares to Paul, “my grace is sufficient for you…   my strength is made perfect in weakness”. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

This one important thing we are most likely to forget: God doesn’t call people to greatness because they have become strong, accomplished, gifted, and experienced in themselves. God calls people who are humble, faithful, and obedient enough to allow God’s power and strength to work through them for the greatness and glory of God.

Take the hero Gideon, for example. When the angel of the Lord meets him to tell him of God’s favor and calling…   Gideon remarks by pointing to his own weakness. If Gideon is sure of anything he is sure that he is not a mighty warrior and he is sure that he cannot deliver Israel from the hands of their enemies.

11 Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” 15 He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.” 17 Then he said to him, “If now I have found favor with you, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. (Judges 6:11-17)

God, however, is persistent. God’s pledge is “I will be with you” and this presence of God will result in Gideon’s victory. Why does God choose someone so weak, modest, ordinary? As the story goes through Judges 6-7 we read that, just under the surface, Gideon has a deep well of faithfulness that is about to be tapped by God and used to God’s glory.

After Gideon’s call in the wine press…   he returns with an offering to the Lord…   a sign of commitment and faithfulness. Next, he builds an altar. And, after that, he responds to God’s command to tear down the altars to false gods (Baal and Asherah) built by Gideon’s father, by using (and then sacrificing) one of Gideon’s father’s prized bulls! That took some guts.

Then, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, he blew a trumpet, and around him gathered a large army. Not yet fully convinced that God has indeed called the right man, Gideon asks for a sign: upon a wool fleece, wet with dew one morning upon the dry ground (at Gideon’s request), dry the next morning upon the dew-filled ground (at Gideon’s request), God shows God’s sign and commitment to leading Gideon to the Lord’s victory over the enemy (the Midianites).

Just as Gideon is getting used to this ‘being called by God’ thing…   God escalates things a bit. Gideon had amassed a large army ready to do battle, and God says, “you have too many men, I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel will boast that their own strength has saved them” (Judges 7:2). And God begins to whittle away the army…   commanding Gideon to send warriors home in droves. So, an army that started 32,000 strong finally marches out for battle with 300 and God said, “with 300 men I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands". As Gideon’s army encircled the Midianites and blew their trumpets, the Lord caused the men to turn on each other with their swords and flee. Gideon’s army was victorious.

In every generation God is seeking heroes. Not heroes of strength and skill, but heroes of faith and obedience. Gideon could never have achieved the victory on his own. And, by faithfully following the commands of God, even when the risks and dangers seemed insurmountable, God was able to achieve the victory through Gideon…   and for God’s glory.

What could God do today in our lives to overcome hardship, affliction, high risks, or insurmountable dangers? What victory does God want to accomplish through our faithfulness and obedience?

If we want to find out…   let’s follow Gideon’s courageous example.

 

Pastor Erik