It's All God

“And the three companies blew the ram's horns and broke the pitchers and held the torches in their left hands and the ram's horns in their right hands to blow. And they cried, A sword for Jehovah and for Gideon!” (Judges 7:20)

Some background on this account: Israel was oppressed by the Midianites. (Judges 6:1) God sent an angel to Gideon whom He chose and anointed to be a mighty warrior to defeat the enemies of Israel. (Judges 6:11-27) Gideon gathered 32,000 men but the Lord told Gideon to send the fearful and afraid home. 22,000 men left leaving 10,000 men. (Judges 7:3) There were still too many and God told Gideon to take the 300 men who lapped the water putting their hand to their mouth and send the rest home. (Judges 7:4-7) Many times we worry about not doing enough, not studying enough and failing in some way to measure up so we can have victory. But all the Lord wants is our obedience and trust in Him, not our own effort, strength nor wisdom and understanding to accomplish His Will. He wants us to rely on Him. When we fail, we blame ourselves for not doing enough. What we really want is the credit for what God wants to do. Many times the Lord will choose someone to do something who isn’t qualified. God will choose someone who will depend on Him and not on their own skills and knowledge. When the Lord chose Gideon, he was an unlikely candidate to be a mighty warrior. But with the anointing of the Lord and his dependence on the Lord, he won a mighty battle against the Midianites. (Judges 7:19-25)

In our translation, Modern King James Version it reads that the men shouted, “A sword for Jehovah and for Gideon.” But other translations read, “A or The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon.” In other words, it was the work of the Lord through Gideon. We see many times when the man of God depended on God for the victory. Joshua strictly followed the Lord’s instructions to defeat Jericho. God’s instructions seem unreasonable. But Joshua obeyed and the walls of Jericho tumbled down. (Joshua 6:1-27) David also listened and obeyed the Lord’s instructions to defeat the Philistines. He only moved when and where God told him. (2Samuel 5:17-25)

Sometimes we think we know better than the Lord. We use our human effort and reasoning which is limited. The Lord may tell us to do something that seems to us unreasonable. But if we obey, we will see that if we had done things our way, we would have failed. “Trust in Jehovah with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) God gave us a mind and ability to think on our own, but we are to use our learned wisdom and understanding in the way that He directs us. We have a tendency to direct our own paths because it may seem to be the reasonable thing to do. Solomon whom God gave wisdom commands us not to be wise in our own eyes. And Paul also in his letter to the Romans repeats the same sentiment. “... Do not be wise within yourselves.” (Romans 12:16) All wisdom and all knowledge come from the Lord. And if we find we have wisdom and knowledge, we should understand that if it wasn’t for the Lord, we wouldn’t have it. “For Jehovah gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Proverbs 2:6) So we have nothing to take pride in as if we accomplished anything. As His children, we are dependent on Him first to initiate our task. If it’s not God initiated, it will not prosper. If we work hard enough with our plans, it might survive, but it will not be the work of God, but of man. Then, we depend on Him to do it His way. God finishes what He starts. He finished creation. (Genesis 2:2) Jesus finished His mission. (John 19:30) God initiated His relationship with man. It started with His plan of salvation beginning with Abraham until Jesus finished the work. And He will complete it. “...being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ,” (Philippians 1:6) God uses us for His purposes, but it’s His initiation, His plan, done His way and prosperously completed.

To the point, it is all God from beginning to end. The men of Gideon shouted rightfully so, “...the sword of God and of Gideon.” It was God Who initiated His relationship with Gideon, anointing and empowering him. Gideon followed God’s plan, and He successfully defeated the Midianites.  We tend to move before God has initiated anything, pray for God to bless it and wonder why we’re frustrated and can’t complete the task. Let’s not move until God tells us. Then follow His plan and it will be blessed and succeed.

Let us pray:

Father God, I come before You praising You and worshipping You. You are worthy of all praise, honor and glory. I am so grateful my Lord that I don’t have to invent things to bring You glory. You have plans. And You want to involve me in Your plans. Each day help me to ask You what Your plan for me is that day. Help me to know and to do your will for me each day. I thank You for the peace that it gives me to know, that all I have to do is obey. I don’t have to struggle to find ways to please You. Obedience is my worship, Father. You are well pleased when I obey. And I have peace knowing that You will complete Your work for me, in me and through me. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.