Judges 7:2 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee 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.”
There is not a man in the world that doesn’t want to be a hero! We men have a habit of dreaming up what we would do to “save the day” in a given circumstance. Perhaps Gideon had dreamed about what he would do to the Midianites. However, it probably didn’t happen like he dreamed!
We find several truths about victory from Gideon’s story in Judges 6-7. First, victory begins at home. God instructed Gideon to “throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it.” (Judges 6:25) Before Gideon could conquer, he had to be conquered. His first battle was with God! Oftentimes, we have our own agenda and plan, thinking we are going to conquer the world in our own strength. We must first surrender all that we have to God’s control. If you don’t have victory first with yourself and your home, you won’t have victory in life. If you want to be a hero, begin at home.
Second of all, the key to victory is always who you are contending for. Gideon was not fighting for himself or by himself; He was fighting for God! Judges 6:34 tells us that “the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon….” In chapter 7, Gideon and his men were to blow trumpets and say, “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.” Gideon’s sword was God’s sword! Are you contending for God, or are you contending for self? Serving self will only take you so far! However, if you take what you have as God-given, that will give you purpose and power because God is invested in what you are doing!
Third of all, victory may come with more than you think you have and less than you think you need. God told Gideon in verse 4, “The people are yet too many….” Just a few verses before, Gideon was hiding out in the threshing floor; but he ended up with three hundred strong warriors. On the flip side, three hundred seemed like a whole lot less than he needed! When God owns you and what you are doing, what may seem insufficient may be exactly what He will use to gain victory!
In the end, God used the Midianites’ strength (the size of their army) to create utter confusion and gave Gideon the victory. He even used an enemy’s dream about a loaf of bread to encourage Gideon that the victory was assured! Sometimes, like Gideon, we can fear what we do not know because we can’t see the end from our perspective. But Gideon obeyed God anyway, and God gave the victory. If you want victory, ask yourself some questions. Is my life characterized by obedience? Am I using what God has given me to serve Him or serve self? Am I starting at home? If you want to be a hero, learn from these observations about Gideon!