May 27, 2022
Today’s reading: Judges 7:7
Strength in weakness
We read in Judges 7:7:
7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.”
One of the most fascinating stories in the Bible is the story of Gideon and his 300-man army.
Initially, Gideon rounded 32,000 soldiers to fight against the Midianites. Surely, Gideon might have felt that his army was too small compared to the 120,000 fighting men of the Midianites.
However, perhaps to Gideon’s surprise, Yahweh said that he has too many men! I wonder how Gideon felt at that time. So, Gideon pared down his army and commanded those who were afraid should leave.
Now, he might have not expected it but he just found out that more than half of his army was fearful and didn’t really want to be there!
That reduced his army from 32,000 to 10,000. That’s an incredible reduction.
At this time, Gideon might have felt nervous. He might be ready to go to battle with 10,000.
Still, God said that his soldiers are still too many!
I can just imagine Gideon’s expression.
In the end, Gideon ended up having only 300 soldiers. Now, compared to the enemy, that looks like 1 Israelite soldier against 400 Midianites!
Gideon knew he was up for an unwinnable battle. Who is a person in his right mind who will fight an army 400 times bigger?
However, God declared:
9 It happened on the same night that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand. Judges 7:9
Surely, there’s a great lesson that we see here and that lesson is this:
Yahweh uses weaknesses to give us victory.
Remember how Gideon started out? He was the least of his people. He was hiding when the Angel of Yahweh found him. He needed so many signs from God to move forward. He doesn’t believe in God right away.
Gideon was full of fear and doubts.
Thus, in the process, God was building his faith. He was helping Gideon to trust in Him more.
By reducing Gideon’s army to 300, God was showing not just Gideon but the entire nation of Israel the truth of this verse:
6 So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 4:6
In this life, if God is asking you to put down something, it means He wants you to pick up something better. You simply need to trust Him in the process.
In the end, it is not our strength that will deliver us, but God’s strength, mercy, and grace.
To learn more about waiting and patience, please read, “How Strong Is Your Faith (And How To Strengthen It)?“
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