Verse of the day: Judges 7:2, And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
If there is any time that our faith is tested, it is when God leads us down a path where we encounter challenges that are far bigger then we are able to deal with on our own. As with Gideon and Israel, God wanted them to completely trust in Him, and give Him the glory. Far too often, God blesses us, and we begin to gain more in life, and experience some success, only to start believing that we are something, when we are really nothing. God made it clear in Galatians 6:3, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” Note the difference between the way we see possible answers to challenges, as human beings, and the way God sees answers to challenges. Although outnumbered, Gideon saw better odds with higher numbers to back him up, while God knew that it was not the number of men that would give Gideon and Israel the victory, but the fact that God was with them and would fight for them. Life’s biggest challenges for us, the Christian, are not challenges of flesh and blood, but spiritual ones manifested in the physical world. The enemy might use someone we know, family, friends, co-workers, and even another brother or sister in Christ, but the ones pulling the strings to discourage us and distract us is the invisible enemies we do not see. Ephesians 6:12 tells us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Regardless of how small we may see ourselves, or how small our help may be from other people, in comparison to the trials we face, God is always bigger. Zechariah 4:6 says, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Psalm 20:7 also says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God” The bottom line is that God allows the big trials and challenges into our lives to remind us of how small we really are and how big He is. It is His way of encouraging us to rely in Him and keeping us humble in our walk with Him. The Apostle Paul wrote this in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Accomplishing “big things” in God’s service is not a bad thing. It is only becomes a bad thing when we lose sight of who is the One who is making the “big things” happen and succeed. Let us face the big battles knowing that we are too small to be victorious on our own, but when the army we belong to consists of just us and God, then that is an army that is big enough to defeat any enemy God allows to confront us.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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