Trust

Trust

Good afternoon all! It's a pleasure to be with you again, and for those of you reading for your first time, thanks for stopping by. I'm really excited for what we have this week, I couldn't wait to get off work to start writing it down, so let's get started!

This week we'll be in Judges 7:1-8 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%207&version=NIV) with one of my favorite judges Gideon. Gideon's story embodies one word to me and that is trust. Prior to this passage Gideon is called upon by God to save the nation of Israel from the Midianites. When selected Gideon asks God for a series of signs to 100% confirm that God is asking for him. I had the pleasure of going through this story in a previous blog post titled Signs if you want to check it out on the side of this page. 

In this week's story though Gideon is preparing for battle and it is shaping up to be a big one. Gideon has 32,000 men at his disposal ready to march in and defeat the enemy...and yet God throws a little twist in there. In verse 2 God tells Gideon he has too many men, it would look like a victory for man not God with that number. So after a small test 22,000 men leave Gideon's army. 

22,000. Now I'm no general but I feel fairly confident that it's much easier to win a battle with more people. This is where Gideon's trust in God is strained. Webster defines trust as belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective. Gideon must now stand in front of only 10,000 people and inspire them onto victory. If we are to begin trusting God we must first understand that we are not intended for the spotlight. We preach, sing, and say so often that we trust God with everything and yet we want to be the center of our story and success, not God. The Israelites had fallen away from God many times before this incident with Gideon, and God wants to ensure that they will know He saved them leaving them no doubts.

Gideon's lesson in trust does not stop here though, as God tells him in verse 4 that he still has too many men. He sends them to the river to drink and asks that Gideon only keeps those that lap bring the water with their hands to their mouth. Logically it makes sense, keep those who are smart enough to look ahead while getting their water. Any war general would tell you this is AWFUL advice because Gideon's numbers then drop from 10,000 to 300! If I'm Gideon I probably would ask again and say, "So you wanted me to get RID of those that lapped the water not keep them right??" Yet God tells Gideon that these 300 are who He will save the Israelite nation with. 

Not only are we not intended from the spotlight in trusting God, often trusting God will pull us out of comfort. My brother and sister-in-love are the best example I have seen of this in my life as of late. Jon and his wife, Marissa, will be planting a church alongside a team in Bloomington, Indiana for the next two years. Church planting is not the easiest thing to do and requires massive amounts of trust in God that He will put the right people in their path as well as the resources for the church to grow and prosper. NOT only will they be doing this, but to get started Jon and Marissa have to get funded. Jon is the man that will fight you to the last second if you try to give him anything for free, and yet here they are...reliant. Reliant on God to begin paving the way for him to become funded so that he and his wife can BEGIN the process of planting the church. Jon stayed in my apartment this last week while meeting with individuals here in town not asking for only support, but talking to people sharing their story as Jon and Marissa are not only reliant on others during this process, but God to provide. 

So where does this leave us today? God would use Gideon and those 300 men to defeat a Midianite army that numbered as many sands on the seashore according to the Bible. Maybe God isn't calling you to raise up an army and defeat a great nation, maybe He's just asking you to trust Him in some small daily decisions? Trust begins as a seed in the small things, and grows into Faith in the big things. 

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope God blesses you in some incredible ways this week. If you'd like to know more about Jon and Marissa's story or how you might be able to join them in their journey feel free to message me!