--"The Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me." --[Judges 7:2] --
-- In a 2017 World Cup qualifying match that pitted the US against Trinidad and Tobago, the Soca Warriors shocked the world when they beat the US men's national team, a team ranked fifty-six places higher.
The 2-1 upset eliminated the US team from the 2018 World Cup. Trinidad and Tobago's victory was so unexpected in part because the United States' population and resoces dwarfed those of the small Caribbean nation. But those seemingly insurmountable advantages weren't enough to defeat the passionate Soca Warriors.
The story of Gideon and the Midianites features a similar upset, one between a small group of fighters and a large army. The Israelite army actually had more than thirty-thousand fighters, but God whittled the army down to just three hundred warriors so the nation would learn that their success was dependent on Him--not the size of their army, the amount of money in their treasury, or the skill of their leaders. (Judges 7:1-8).
It can be tempting to ut our trust and confidence in things we can see or measure, but that's not the way of faith. Though it's often difficult, when we're willing to depend on God to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10), we can go into situations with courage and confidence, even when we feel overwhelmed and unqualified. His presence and power can do amazing things in and through us. Let's keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. ~~
