Gideons 5

Judges 7:16-21

We are called on to trust in God and trust that the Lord will provide for our needs. We are called on to offer what we can and have the faith that God can do great things with our gifts. But that does not mean we can sit back and do nothing while God takes over.

Gideon’s story ends at Judges 8:32, but the climax of the tale of Gideon and the Midianites occurs here. What plan did Gideon have? What “weapons” did his soldiers carry? What was the result?

Although the battle was won by God and not by the number of soldiers Gideon brought to battle, there was a bit of clever strategy on Gideon’s part. He set his soldiers so that they surrounded most of their enemy, and his attack was set for the middle of the night during a time of confusion.

While the Midian guard was being changed the three-hundred men under Gideon blew trumpets and broke jars exposing burning torches. The sudden appearance of 300 torches, the sound of the trumpets, and the shouts – “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon” – would be perceived by the Midians as an attack of 300 companies of soldiers, or 30,000 men.

Assuming that 30,000 men were surrounding their sleeping and unprepared army, the Midianites panicked and fled. The battle was over and the only weapons used were trumpets and torches.

We can trust in God, but like Gideon we also must be clever and creative with our gifts and our skills. We must be wise in our approaches to serving God and performing our ministries. Working together with the Lord, applying our skills and God’s power, we can do much for the kingdom of God.

DAILY CHALLENGE: Is there a place in your ministry that requires creativity?