Have you ever felt backed up against the wall, with the odds stacked against you? In those situations, Christians often refuse to acknowledge an important truth. They fail to recognize that God may actually be the one who is orchestrating their challenging circumstances.
You may think, No way. God protects me from such things. The world and satan are doing this to me. Maybe. Yet maybe, God is trying to tell you something ~ and He needs to get your attention. Besides, satan can’t do anything to us unless it is sifted throught the Father’s hands first.
Again and again in Scripture, we see that the Lord uses difficulties to build faith. It’s easy to trust Him when things go our way. However, God often removes comfort and false securities from our lives to remind us that He is the true source of our strength.
Consider this passage, Judges 7:1-25, in which Gideon was ready to lead a powerful military of 32,000 men into battle against the enemy. However, the Lord stepped in three separate times, whittling the Israelite army down to less than one percent of it’s original size. Our reply would have been, “What? It’s impossible to defeat enemy forces with just 300 men!”
That is probably true, 300 men alone couldn’t do it. But the Lord can! That is the lesson of Gideon.
When the odds are not in your favor, don’t think God has abandoned you. Your friends, money and success may disappear, but they won’t win the battle anyway. Stand your ground and keep your eye on the Lord. With everything stripped away, you will be amazed at what your heavenly Father will achieve.
Gideon was undoubtedly feeling anxious. He was about to attack an enemy camp of more than 130,000 trained soldiers, and he was going to do it with just a handful of men.
In this terrifying moment God gave him encouragement.
God woke Gideon at night and strategically positioned him to overhear an enemy soldier recounting a frightful dream ~ a vision of Israelite victory!! This situation assured Gideon that the Lord was at work in this daunting situation. God graciously used this incident to show His sensitivity to one man’s faintheartedness. And He still does today.
Consider the power of a friend’s encouraging words. Think about how meaningful it is when an unexpected blessing seems to fall from heaven right in your darkest moment.
These are not “happy accidents” rather, they are precious confidence builders from God.
Our challenge is simply to remember times in the past when our loving Heavenly Father has encouraged us. Standing on the evidence of His faithfulness, we can boldly face the future, knowing we are not alone.
As inhabitants of a fallen world, we will at times face heartache, intimidation, and seemingly insurmountable obstacles. As children of God, saved and secure in Christ Jesus, we are never beyond reach of our Lord’s encouragement.
