Judges 7:7–8: “Then the LORD said to Gideon, ‘By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place.’ So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.”

April 21st, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

God assured Gideon of victory with this sweeping statement, “I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand.” Gideon needed to hear that at this point because the odds against him and his men were about 450:1. Gideon had been painted into such a corner that all he could do was trust in God and God alone. We know that feeling in our own lives spiritually.

It is difficult to truly rely on God when we have all the human resources needed already available. It is so much easier, in our natural mind, to use available human resources and then “give God the credit” for what follows. But what about the situations where nothing can happen spiritually unless God interferes? That is when faith is challenged and we must make a decision to trust God to supply. Job said it this way: “But He [God] knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). He was saying something like, “I don’t know where God is taking me or exactly how He is working, but He does and that is all that matters.”

Job realized that pressure brings usefulness in service, “when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” A $3 length of bright stainless steel can be pounded into a couple of $10 horseshoes. With further pounding that steel can become $100 worth of guitar strings. And with even further pounding, it can become $1,000 worth of men’s fine wristwatch cases and mechanisms. It all depends on how much pounding is done! If you feel like you’re being hammered, hang in there; don’t give up; don’t fret yourself into depression. Don’t struggle with where God is taking you, or what He is doing. When all was said and done, Gideon found himself used by God to change the course of a nation.

“LORD, use us today in whatever place You need us, large or small.”