‘Our sufficiency is from God.’ 2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV
Gideon’s army of 32,000 men is enormously outnumbered by the Midianites when God tells him, ‘You have too many men.’ He instructs Gideon to release anyone who is afraid, and Gideon loses two-thirds of his army. Now he has only 10,000. Again, the Lord says, ‘There are still too many men,’ and reduces Gideon’s army to 300 men. At that moment, the odds had to be a 100 to 1. And it even gets better! God directs Gideon to attack the Midianites with trumpets and jugs. And yes, Israel wins!
Why did God do it like that? Because if Gideon had attacked with 32,000 men and won, the Israelites would have thought that God didn’t provide much help, and He would have received limited credit. But God is worthy of more. God desires and deserves complete credit. And when 300 men defeat a massive army with trumpets and jugs, God receives all the glory (see Judges 7).
Why? The reason is a victory like that overcomes all odds. Too frequently, our prayers revolve around requesting God to increase our odds of winning. We would like everything in our favour. But maybe God wants the odds to oppose us so we can encounter a miracle of divine proportions. Faith is trusting God no matter how hopeless the odds are. Our impossible circumstances are chances to experience a new height of God’s glory. Are you facing a situation that, humanly speaking, is beyond your ability to cope with it? Read this: ‘Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.’ (2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV)
SoulFood: Dan 11–12, Luke 4:31–44, Ps 89:38–52, Pro 3:1–2
Renungan Hari Ini [The Word for Today] is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB International Copyright ©