Judges 7-9

We finish reading about Gideon, God's hero, in Judges 7-9.  The Israelites are in bad shape.  They have lost their focus on God, their true Savior, and Gideon rises to the occasion when God calls him to rescue His people from the Midianites.  Gideon isn't a perfect leader, but he grows in faith, saves the Israelites, and learns to trust God, step by step.  Unfortunately after enjoying a time of peace, the Israelites revert back to their unfaithful ways and the cycle of self-destruction begins again with Abimelek, one of Gideon's sons.  

Gideon is one of God's many unlikely heroes from the Bible.  The odds aren't in his favor.  And the more I get to know God, the more I recognize this as an integral and defining part of God's grace and redemptive plan for His people.  

We relate to people when they allow us to see and connect to their "humanness," especially their weaknesses.

Gideon reminds me that when we align our will with God's will for our lives, nothing can stop us.  He blesses us with divine confidence, a confidence that is strong despite the odds against us.  

In fact, God loves to show us His presence and power when the odds are stacked against us.  Look at what he does to Gideon's army...

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’

Judges 7:2 

By sending home over half of Gideon's men, God proves a point He really wants us to remember.

With only 300 men, Gideon defeats a militia too huge to count.

God wants us to know the real source of our strength.  It's not numbers or circumstances.  It's God Himself.

A prayer for today-

Dear God,

Thank You for using ordinary people to do extraordinary things in Your kingdom.  Thank You for the example I have in Gideon.

Help me to find and trust the strength I have in Your Son and my Savior, Jesus.  Use me, please Lord, for Your glory, and give me divine confidence.

In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit I pray,

Amen

Peace,

*This post is part of A Mind-Maker-Upper's Everyday Reading Project.  Click here to read more.