S239P1 – Doing much with little: 300 men
Jgs. 7:7-8
And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
Every single resource at our disposal is limited. We see this when we experience drought or famine. Even the air we breathe does not exist in an unlimited supply. Yet, we likely do not think much about our limited resources until they hit closer to home. Resources like money running in low supply certainly will catch our attention. Then we have that which we cannot control, namely the passage of time. We get only so much of it, and we cannot control how much we get or how quickly it goes by us. We might look at the limits of our resources and realize they will limit our abilities, but God has no such limits. He always has enough.
There has been some debate over time regarding the large numbers mentioned in the account of this battle. Whether these numbers are literal or figurative, one thing is clear. The proportion of men at Gideon’s disposal compared to the number we are told he defeated is incredible. First, he defeated an untold number of Midiantes. Then, these same 300 men went on to defeat over 100,000. [8:10] If these 300 men had any idea the numbers they would be up against, their goal surely would have seemed unattainable. However, God could have defeated those armies and more with just three men. When we look at his battle strategy, all this becomes even more incredible. This all started without Israel having to draw one sword. [7:19-23]
God has a lot for us to do, and there is no question about that. We are not given this time here for nothing. Of all the things we have in common, each of us will be asked to do something for God even though it seems like what we have is insufficient. He might even do what He did with Gideon and command us to show up with much less than it appears we need. Our confidence should be such that his command is enough. If we understand him, then we understand that He is not limited by the things which limit us. Father, increase our faith so that we can step out in confidence and obedience as Gideon did here.