And the LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.'"
All too long we have settled for the "might and power" of man and we are bogged down in the mire of self-importance. It was with good reason that God said to Gideon, concerning those who were with him for war, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me,'" (Judges 7:2). Literally, "lest Israel glorify itself against me, saying, 'My own hand has delivered me.'" And God proceeded to reduce Gideon's army from 32,000 men to 300 men, saying, "I will deliver you with the 300 men..." (7:7). This would be 300 against 135,000. In God's way of thinking, less is more, but only when He is "More". This drives self-driven strategic thinkers crazy because "more" to them is always more of their expertise, followed by their achievements. But this way of thinking, with its "apparent successes" is killing us. Why? Because we have glorified ourselves, saying "look at what we did". Without our realizing it, our "apparent successes" are, like the flooded waters of a mighty river, slowly but surely eating away under the levies that hold disaster back. But we don't get it. We continue to promote our ways and our work, even against the strong revelation of God who said, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," (Zechariah 4:6). Like Communism, that began to crumble while championing monuments to its cause, we too are losing ground on the spiritual front while championing monuments to our cause. This is disturbing. Someone has to contradict this madness that consumes much of the church today. May God find some Gideons, and "300" others like him, along the way, who may look small in the eyes of man but are strong in the eyes of God, and let the others go, each man to his home.
All too long we have settled for the "might and power" of man and we are bogged down in the mire of self-importance. It was with good reason that God said to Gideon, concerning those who were with him for war, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me,'" (Judges 7:2). Literally, "lest Israel glorify itself against me, saying, 'My own hand has delivered me.'" And God proceeded to reduce Gideon's army from 32,000 men to 300 men, saying, "I will deliver you with the 300 men..." (7:7). This would be 300 against 135,000. In God's way of thinking, less is more, but only when He is "More". This drives self-driven strategic thinkers crazy because "more" to them is always more of their expertise, followed by their achievements. But this way of thinking, with its "apparent successes" is killing us. Why? Because we have glorified ourselves, saying "look at what we did". Without our realizing it, our "apparent successes" are, like the flooded waters of a mighty river, slowly but surely eating away under the levies that hold disaster back. But we don't get it. We continue to promote our ways and our work, even against the strong revelation of God who said, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," (Zechariah 4:6). Like Communism, that began to crumble while championing monuments to its cause, we too are losing ground on the spiritual front while championing monuments to our cause. This is disturbing. Someone has to contradict this madness that consumes much of the church today. May God find some Gideons, and "300" others like him, along the way, who may look small in the eyes of man but are strong in the eyes of God, and let the others go, each man to his home.
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