"The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.' (Judges 7:2)
When the Lord called Gideon to lead the people into battle against the Midianites, Gideon's army was thirty-two thousand men strong. With an army that size the odds were in their favor. When we face battles, we like to have the odds in our favor. We like to have lots of money to face the financial needs; we like to have lots of people on our side praying for us; we like to have plenty of everything we need to get us through the situation. The Lord told Gideon that his army was too big. You know the story, the Lord kept making requirements until the army was down to only three hundred and one men. The odds were no longer in their favor. Instead the odds were now against them.
We like to have plenty of resources available to us when we go through trials, battles, situations and life in general. While it may seem like a good thing to us, that isn't necessarily the case. Why? Because as with Gideon, when we have all the natural resources we need to be victorious, God does not get the glory in the outcome like He deserves. Like Gideon's army, we could say that "we" did it. It's only in those times when we have nothing to work with and we still come out on top that God gets the glory. It's the times when I find myself without a job yet all the bills are paid. It's in the times when the doctors tell me there is nothing else they can do for me-- no pill, no treatment- yet I recover. In in the times of broken relationships that look hopeless yet they are mended.
We like to have plenty of resources available to us when we go through trials, battles, situations and life in general. While it may seem like a good thing to us, that isn't necessarily the case. Why? Because as with Gideon, when we have all the natural resources we need to be victorious, God does not get the glory in the outcome like He deserves. Like Gideon's army, we could say that "we" did it. It's only in those times when we have nothing to work with and we still come out on top that God gets the glory. It's the times when I find myself without a job yet all the bills are paid. It's in the times when the doctors tell me there is nothing else they can do for me-- no pill, no treatment- yet I recover. In in the times of broken relationships that look hopeless yet they are mended.
God can work through many or through few (2 Chronicles 14:11). But more often than not He works through few. He uses weak and foolish things. He uses a widow's handful of meal to feed a family during faminie. He uses a stone and sling shot to bring down a giant. He uses an army of three hundred against an army of thousands to bring deliverance. If you look at natural resources to ensure victory or deliverance, you will always feel that either the odds are for you or against you.
Shared by : aStormsWhisper from Servants of Grace Christian FellowshipThis is why you can't look at your resources. You have to look to God who is your resource. When you do, you will find that the odds are ALWAYS in your favor. With God on your side and working on your behalf it doesn't matter what it looks like... the odds are never against you.... they are in your favor.
No comments:
Post a Comment