Against All Odds
Dearly beloved of God, there have been many times in history that God's people were overwhelmed by much stronger enemies... until God made a way for them where there appeared to be no way.
Gideon lived during such a time. Israel had done evil in the sight of the LORD, and they had gone into captivity under the Midianites.
God sent an angel to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.”
Wow; what was the message that changed history? "The LORD is with you!"
This is the same LORD that delivered Israel from Egypt by mighty signs, miracles, and wonders; the same God that healed every one of them in the Passover, and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground, while the mightiest fighting force on the earth was destroyed in the sea.
One would think that “The LORD is with you” would be all they needed to hear.
Gideon replied… “Oh my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then is all this befallen us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ but….”
This could have been written today. How many times do we read in God's Word, or hear in the manifestations that the LORD is with us, dearly beloved?
The LORD God Almighty is with us, in fact, He dwells in us by His holy spirit. We are His dwelling place, dearly beloved. The LORD is with us; He is our Father, and He is for us.
The LORD looked upon Gideon and said, “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?”
What was “this thy might?” His might was the God of miracles that he spoke of in the previous verse. His might was “the LORD is with you!”
His might did not come from his family; they were poor, and he was the least among them. His might came from the reality that the LORD was with him.
God worked with Gideon to build his confidence to believe that He indeed was with him in the face of all the odds against him. He brought Gideon along step by step.
The enemy was like a multitude of grasshoppers that covered the earth. They had entered the land to impoverish and destroy Israel.
Let’s see, the LORD God, plus Gideon… against all odds.
Then God said the most amazing thing to Gideon. “The people that are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, ‘Mine own hand hath saved me.’ Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the People, saying, ‘Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.”
Twenty two thousand left, and ten thousand remained. The LORD said unto Gideon, “The People are yet too many….” Are you kidding me; they were facing an army of over 135,000!
God whittled the number down to an army of 300 men to fight against an army that was like grasshoppers for multitude; a multitude like the sand by the sea. I would say that’s against all odds, wouldn’t you?
God whittled down the number so that it was impossible to think that they overcame this multitude by their own strength.
Gideon overcame because the LORD was with him. Gideon listened to Him. The LORD was the One with the wisdom, the One with the might; the One that led them to victory.
Gideon believed Him, and did as He said, and conquered his enemy against all the odds against them because He believed the God of miracles was with Him.
The LORD God, plus Gideon, plus 300 men against an army like the sand by the sea for multitude. It wasn’t in the odds; the victory was in the God that Gideon worshipped. The LORD was with him!
He is with us, dearly beloved. The date may have changed, but the LORD God has not changed. He says, “I am the LORD; I change not!”
The LORD our God is the same today as yesterday and He is present to deliver us against all the odds against us.
God our Father says that we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. He is present with us and He will never leave us or forsake us. He is for us, dearly beloved.
He will deliver you regardless of the odds against you. Remember who He is, dearly beloved.