Smaller Than You Think, Stronger Than You Know
"The Lord said to Gideon, 'The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, My own hand has saved me.'" - Judges 7:2
Have you ever looked at what you have in your hands and thought, there’s no way this is enough? That’s exactly how Gideon must have felt. At first, he had 32,000 men ready to go to battle. It still felt like a long shot, but at least he had numbers. But then God did something that made no sense. He started cutting the army down. First by fear. Then by how they drank water. And by the end of it, Gideon was left with 300 men.
That’s 300 men against more than 135,000 Midianites. That’s not a battle. That’s a slaughter, unless God is the one leading the charge.
And that is the point. God didn’t want Israel to win because of their numbers or their strategy or their strength. He wanted them to win because of Him. So He stripped away anything that might lead to pride or self-reliance. He left Gideon with just enough to move forward, but not enough to take credit for the victory.
That still happens today. Sometimes God will reduce your resources. Shrink your team. Lower your budget. Tighten your timeline. And it is easy to feel like you are being set up to fail. But what if God is just making sure that when you win, you know who gets the credit?
If you are in a season right now where what you have feels too small for the battle ahead, do not lose heart. You may be exactly where God wants you. Not because He is setting you up to fail, but because He is setting you up to trust.
God’s math is different. His victories are different. And His glory is never shared. Like Gideon, you may be smaller than you hoped, but you are stronger than you know, because God is with you. And that changes everything.
Have you ever looked at what you have in your hands and thought, there’s no way this is enough? That’s exactly how Gideon must have felt. At first, he had 32,000 men ready to go to battle. It still felt like a long shot, but at least he had numbers. But then God did something that made no sense. He started cutting the army down. First by fear. Then by how they drank water. And by the end of it, Gideon was left with 300 men.
That’s 300 men against more than 135,000 Midianites. That’s not a battle. That’s a slaughter, unless God is the one leading the charge.
And that is the point. God didn’t want Israel to win because of their numbers or their strategy or their strength. He wanted them to win because of Him. So He stripped away anything that might lead to pride or self-reliance. He left Gideon with just enough to move forward, but not enough to take credit for the victory.
That still happens today. Sometimes God will reduce your resources. Shrink your team. Lower your budget. Tighten your timeline. And it is easy to feel like you are being set up to fail. But what if God is just making sure that when you win, you know who gets the credit?
If you are in a season right now where what you have feels too small for the battle ahead, do not lose heart. You may be exactly where God wants you. Not because He is setting you up to fail, but because He is setting you up to trust.
God’s math is different. His victories are different. And His glory is never shared. Like Gideon, you may be smaller than you hoped, but you are stronger than you know, because God is with you. And that changes everything.
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1 Comment
Awesome reminder!