There's No Way...But God

Let's take a walk down memory lane, back to childhood and Sunday school. Maybe your teacher even used a flannel board. What was the takeaway from the account of Gideon in Judges 6-7? Was it putting out the fleece, asking God for confirmation? Was it the excitement of pitchers breaking and warriors shouting, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!? Or was it men "lapping like dogs" and the whittling down of Gideon's army to numbers barely above Superdome attendance in January?

Just the other day I was reading the account of Saul in 1 Samuel 13. His tiny army of 3000 had dwindled to 600 men as they waited for Samuel, the priest, to come and offer sacrifice to God before battle. Okay, 600 hundred men, not impressive; but still twice as many as stood with Gideon. However, Saul and his men were up against 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an infantry "as large as the number of sand grains on the seashore."  To make victory even less likely, the Israelites had become dependent on the Philistines, the very enemies they were fighting to do their metalworking. There were no hammers, swords, picks, or knives in the hands of the army of Israel but for the implements they used daily on their farms; and even those were not well-sharpened, as the Philistines weren't foolish enough to put a razor-sharp edge on the axes of their enemies. Outnumbered, outgunned, and undertrained. Have you ever felt that way? 

While Gideon remained in constant communication with God, Saul's response, as he saw his victory slipping away was to offer a sacrifice to God. Good idea, right? Not at all. He was not a priest, and in those days, only priests were given the authority by God to offer sacrifices. Samuel, Israel's priest had told Saul to wait seven days. As Saul and his army waited, the Philistines powered up. Morale amongst Israel's army began to sink and men began to desert. Can you feel Saul's anxiety beginning to build? Have you ever waited for a miracle or the end to a difficult season? As hours and days pass, as the bank account dwindles, as friends abandon you, as applications go unanswered, as pregnancy tests continue to read negatively, as your spouse's health continues to deteriorate, as your child's cutting escalates... You fight the urge to take matters into your own hands. You fight the urge to say, to do, to take one more pass. Prayer just doesn't seem to be working! The likelihood of victory wanes.

Gideon obeyed. Again and again. As God, right before his eyes diminished his resources; You have too many, and again, You have too many. The more Gideon obeyed, the more God let him in on His plan and offered reassurance. But Saul? Saul was king. Saul may have been humble of circumstance (1 Samuel 9:19-21), but not necessarily humble of character. As king, he began taking matters into his own hands; his reluctance to submit to God and His plans was Saul's Waterloo. God rewarded him with exactly what he wanted: the throne of his own heart. But not the throne of Israel.

Sometimes God places us with our backs against the wall. It might be because we are not His and are called to be, or because we are His and are called to be better. We might find ourselves in a place of subservience, much as Israel was brutally subject to the raids of the Midianites or bound by the metalworking skills of the Philistines. We might find ourselves underwater financially or in poor health, through no fault of our own. We might be overpowered and outnumbered by those who disagree loudly and violently with everything we believe. But if we are called to fight, to stand, to resist, to save; if this is the battle to which God has brought us, the only way we can win is by placing our trust in Him. The only way we can finish well is by obedience to God. And we can trust He is able --no matter the apparent delay, no matter the apparent dearth. He is not late. He is not lacking. We are seeing the battle from the cheap seats. Ours is only to trust the One who led Gideon and chastised Saul. For His glory and for our learning. (Flannel board not included.)