Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place. Judges 7:1-8
This is part of the story of Gideon whom God raised up as a judge to deliver Israel from the oppression of Midian. Many of us desire to see God move in powerful, supernatural ways. We long to see miracles, healings, demons driven out, and whole families and nations radically saved and we want to be part of all of that. I need to be reminded from time to time that God is still willing to move in those ways but he typically won’t move when we don’t put ourselves at risk. What I mean by “putting ourselves at risk” is that we allow God to put us in positions so that if he doesn’t show up and do what only he can do, then nothing is going and to happen and we risk failure, embarrassment, loss, and maybe more.
Gideon faced an expansive force of Midianites. Initially, he had 32,000 men ready to go into battle. Even then they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. But God was determined to turn Israel’s hearts back to him through an act of supernatural deliverance so that Israel would have no doubt that it was God who gave them the victory. After two “siftings,” Gideon was left with only three hundred men. The remaining 300 faced impossible odds and that is the perfect place to see God move.
The three hundred were never asked to face the enemy in a direct confrontation with swords and slings but they were asked to walk in faith and to act in seemingly foolish ways that still put them at risk. They were each issued a torch, a jar under which they might hide the torch, and a trumpet – not the high-tech armor and rocket launchers they had hoped for. Then they were asked to move silently to the enemy camp in the middle of the night, surround the camp, and at Gideon’s signal they were to break the jars, flash the torches, blow the trumpets, and shout “For the Lord and Gideon.” Sounds like a great plan to defeat tens of thousands of hardened Midianite troops doesn’t it? If God is not in this plan, Gideon and his 300 will shortly be toast. But as the jars break, the trumpets sound, the torches light up the night, and the men shout, the enemy believes that their camp has been overrun and in the dark the Midianite soldiers begin to kill whatever is moving in the shadows – which turns out to be one another. Then they flee in the night with Gideon in pursuit.
If you recall, Gideon was no military man, nor was he a great man of faith in the beginning. As you read the surrounding chapters of this event you will see that God gave Gideon experiences that built his faith to the point that he was willing to risk – an encounter with an angel, a ram’s fleece set out in the dew on two consecutive mornings for confirmation that Gideon was actually hearing God, an over-heard conversation between Midianite soldiers to confirm that God’s Spirit had already implanted fear and panic in their hearts before the pivotal battle. God did not ask for perfect faith nor did he ask for faith that wasn’t based on previous experiences with God’s faithfulness, but in the end Gideon still had to place himself (and his men) at risk to see the mighty hand of God at work.
I believe God still wants us to put ourselves in positions where if he doesn’t show up we will at least look foolish until we no longer mind looking foolish for God at some point because obedience becomes its own reward. Most of us won’t have to face a horde of Midianites, but if we want to begin to see the miracles of God we will have to pray for healing with no excuses and no disclaimers about “if it be thy will.” We will have to pray over strangers at Sam’s Club, the mall, and between latte’s at Starbucks. We will have to share our faith at convenience stores and with risky relatives and neighbors to see what God will do. We may have to give more than we can afford and commit to things that we know are of God but that we can’t see how we will be able to raise the money. We may have to take mission trips to dangerous or at least very dirty parts of the world to see God move in supernatural ways that only God can do so that only God can get the glory.
When we keep it safe we won’t see much of the supernatural because it won’t be needed. If I had been Gideon I would have been believing God for thousands of Israeli troops to show up unexpectedly with armor that had miraculously come in the mail that day. But God wanted to display his glory not Gideon’s and that only happens when we face the impossible because only then do we know without a doubt that God just did something amazing for us and through us. Just a reminder to me and, perhaps, to you that if I want to see God more than I must risk more. Be blessed and have a risky day.
