The Impossible

May 5

Judges 6-7

Psalm 55:16-23

Proverbs 12:27-28

Luke 21:20-38

The Impossible

“The Lord said to Gideon, ‘There are 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…With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you, and give the Midianites into your hands.” Judges 7:2, 7

Midian had so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help. He heard them and sent an angel to Gideon. The angel called him a mighty warrior and instructed him to deliver Israel. Gideon’s response to him is priceless. “Are you crazy, I’m not a mighty warrior. My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family.” (My paraphrase) After the Lord assured Gideon of His presence and promised him victory, Gideon gathered all of the men he could find to go to battle. He and 32,000 men prepared to fight Midian, but God told him He had too many men. He weeded it down to 10,000, but that was still too many. Gideon and 300 men went to battle. Gideon must have thought this was crazy. He wasn’t sure he could win with 32,000 men, but he knew it would be impossible to defeat the enemy with only 300. God usually doesn’t give us the reason behind his actions. He just expects us to be obedient and do what He says even if we don’t understand, but here he chose to tell Gideon why he wanted him to go to battle with only 300 men. He did not want Israel to think they did it on their own. He created an impossible situation so there would be no doubt that God and God alone brought about their deliverance.

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26 When God moves in our lives, He often takes us out of our comfort zone and puts us in situations that are seemingly impossible. If God is calling us to do something, I believe that most of the time it will be something we cannot do on our own. His call is rarely something we feel comfortable and capable of doing. It is usually something that will stretch us beyond what we think we can do and take us places we never even imagined. He wants to get the glory and honor. He wants to accomplish the impossible. Are we willing to step out in faith and be obedient? Are we willing to go into battle with only 300 men?