In Search of the Winning Number

When you are afraid who do you want with you? For me, it helps to have someone who knows me, knows what I am going through, and has the ability to keep me calm. 

Gideon was going through hard times. His nation was under siege by the Midianites and they were losing their food, their animals, their homes, and their personhood, to this marauding power.

The story picks up where God calls Gideon to lead his people out of this situation. Gideon is a farmer not a warrior so this is a new and scary role. He gathers together as many people as he can and together they go out to do battle. However, the night before battle God appears and tells Gideon that he has too many people! Thirty thousand is barely enough to go against the Midianite armies who number in the tens of thousands— but he does as God says. He sends home anyone who is scared of going on. Two thirds of his army leaves! He is now down to ten thousand only to hear from God that this is still too much. A further sifting brings the number down to three hundred. Three hundred farmers against tens of thousands of trained soldiers is just right because the battle is now the Lord’s!

For seven years Gideon’s people had been oppressed and abused by the Midianites. They lived in constant fear as the armies attacked constantly trampling their fields, killing their animals, and abusing their women and children. They were totally exhausted and demoralized yet God said all they need for victory was three hundred men. 

The battle, described in Judges 7, is an interesting one. Three hundred men in the middle of the night, with trumpets, empty jars, torches,  threw formidable armies of tens of thousands of soldiers into chaos. Out of this experience Gideon learned that victory is not ensured by number but by who is fighting for you. Gideon’s experience tells us we have nothing to fear when God is on our side.

The Psalmist, marveling at God’s protection of His people wrote, “He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes, Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”” Psalm 105: 14, 15. 

What has you concerned or scared today? Is it something that has been with you so long that you are now exhausted and demoralized, or is it sudden bad news? Whatever it is, let Gideon be your inspiration. The battle is not yours it’s the Lord’s— if you will give it to Him. God has proven that even without the support of family, friends, or associates we can be overcomers and a blessing to others. 

The secret of success is not in the number on our side but in Who is on our side— He knows us individually, He knows what we are going through, and He has the ability to bring calm. Our success is dependent on opening up the problem to God, listening for His direction, and in obedience moving forward, knowing that He has our back!

Today’s Goal: To uncover to God the situation that is scaring me and asking Him for victory.