Why does God do things the way he does? Scripture says his ways are not our ways … well, no doubt. We would always choose the easy way. We would always choose the fastest route. We would certainly choose the straightest path with clear sight of the destination. But God chooses the ghetto route. God chooses the round about, windy way that takes longer and seems a whole lot harder. Why is that?

Quite simply – he wants you to know it’s only him. Only he could work this out. Only he could make it happen. Only he could turn this around and use it for something good. You see, he wants you to know him and trust him. He’s showing you who he is.

If it were easy, you would think it was you. If it were fast, you would fail to see God. If it were certain there would be no need to trust.

So, what hardship, struggle, long wait and diminishing odds are you facing? God wants to show his power here and he doesn’t want you to miss it!

We have a lot of scripture to read together today, but you can’t afford to miss this.

Judges 7 is the story of Gideon defeating the Midianites. Remember yesterday’s devotional we read in chapter 6 about Gideon, the young Israelite who’s hiding in a winepress threshing wheat because he’s starving and fearful the Midianites would come and steal his harvest. And that’s where God comes to him and calls him a mighty warrior and tells him to go with the strength he has because he is being sent to destroy the enemy and rescue his people.

Now Gideon has gathered his troops. He has 32,000 warriors and he is facing an enemy that is over 4 times bigger than him. The odds are 4 to 1, and he’s the 1. Not good, but he’s trusting God. But watch what God does next. This will blow your mind!

Verse 2-7, ”

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. 3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.

4 But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” 5 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” 6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.

7 The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”

Now Gideon has a tiny army of warriors, only 300. When he started with 32,000, it was already too little, now this is only 1% of that. ONE PERCENT. God took 99% away from him. The odds are now 400 to 1, Gideon and his little army are still the 1.

Who marches into battle with those kind of odds stacked against them? Who is willing to still show up when 99% of the little you had is taken away from you? THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN GOD.

When God said, “With what you have left I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites”, Gideon had a choice to make. Either trust God, let go of what was being taken, and move forward in faith with what was left … or don’t. And by “don’t”, I mean don’t fight for the victory. Go back to that hardship and misery where you’ve been stuck for 7 years under the bondage of your enemy.

For many of us, that’s the choice we have to make today. Either trust God, let go of what has been taken and move forward in faith with what is left … or don’t. When you don’t trust God with the little you have left, when you don’t move forward in faith with those terrible odds, then you go back to life where it’s only getting worse. You stay stuck. The enemy keeps stealing from you. And you just continue to live that same life of bondage, oppression and misery.

What if you’re only left with a little because God is trying to show himself to you? What if the odds have gotten worse and worse because God wants to make it clear, HE IS YOUR ONLY ANSWER.

That is the reason. God says in verse 2, “You have too much. If I let you fight with all this, then you will think you saved yourself in your own strength. So, I’m taking it away. I will use 1% of what you had to save you, then you’ll know it was me!”

• Moses stood at the Red Sea with the enemies closing in behind him, facing certain death for him and all 2 million of the Israelites who were fleeing bondage in Egypt. There was nothing they could do to save themselves. Only God could part that sea and lead them through on dry ground.

• Daniel stood in the lion’s den facing ferocious hungry beasts. There was nothing he could do to save himself. Only God could seal their mouths and bring him through that night.

• David was a young teen when he stood facing a giant that was nearly 10 feet tall in full armor and weapons. There was nothing he could do to save himself. Only God could equip David in this battle for victory.

• Abraham was old and impotent, Sarah was old and menopausal, and they had no children. There was nothing they could do to get pregnant. It was impossible and beyond hope. Only God could give them their promised child.

These are the odds God allows so that when it happens we see him and we know him. With odds of 400 to 1, with less than 1% of what you had when you started, God says, “TRUST ME. ONLY I CAN DO THIS FOR YOU.”

I can tell you how the battle ends. It ends just as God promised … victory. Gideon and his tiny army of warriors showed up with God’s battle plan and literally watched as their enemies ran in a panic and fought against each other. The Lord took out their enemies, but Gideon still had to show up in faith for the battle.

But there’s one more part of the story before the victory that is my favorite. The sweetest little detail tucked within Judges 7: 9-15:

9 That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them! 10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. 11 Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.”

So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count! 13 Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”

14 His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”

15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”

Now, that might not make sense to you, so let me explain. God is encouraging the fearful Gideon before battle by letting him overhear the conversation of his enemies. This conversation reveals a dream one of the enemy soldiers had. In that dream, their entire camp was destroyed by a barley bread. Barley bread was only eaten by the poor. This barley bread represented humble nobodies, and the humble nobodies were about to destroy them.

What Gideon heard was the enemy, who was 400 times bigger than him and far more equipped than him, speaking FEAR. They were AFRAID of him. And this was the encouragement Gideon needed to go back to his tiny army of warriors and say, “Get up! The Lord has given us victory!!!!!”

Oh how I pray you can hear the conversation of the enemy right now about you. Satan is telling his demons, “Oh no, she got up today. She’s beat down, but darn if she didn’t get up again. She’s not giving up. Now, she’s reading God’s word and daring to grab ahold of His promises. She’s daring to believe she can do this with what little she has left. Oh no, God is on her side. She’s moving forward. We don’t stand a chance.”

That’s right, enemy. God is on my side. I’m not cowering down in fear. I won’t let you take what God has promised me for one more day. I may not have much and I may not do this perfectly, but God is going before me and I will show up for this battle.

What you have left is now small enough to be used by God. These are the odds he can really show himself in.

So, yes, little demons of Hell, you should scramble about in fear and confusion. Fight amongst yourselves and start destroying each other, you legion of demons. We are the girls with bad odds, showing up trusting in our big God, and we know this battle will end in the Lord’s victory!

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