According to Plan

Remember the story of Gideon (Judges 6-7)? The people were living in caves because the Midianites were oppressing them. They would wait until the Israelites planted and gathered and then they would come "like locusts for number" (Judg 6:3) and take everything because Israel was under God's judgment. So Gideon was threshing wheat in secret and God showed up and told him he was to go and deliver Israel from the Midianites. Summarizing, Gideon said something like, "Um ... I don't think ... how? ... I don't see ... okay." So Gideon gathered an army of some 32,000 and said, "Okay, God, I have an army. Let's go." And God said, "Hang on. You have too many." Too many? Against a horde like locusts? God said, "Let those who are scared go home." Imagine Gideon at this point. Who is NOT scared to go into battle? Apparently God knew. Less than a third of them remained. "Okay, God," Gideon said, "I've got 10,000 of the bravest men and we're ready to go." And God said, "Nope! Too many." Too many??? So God devised a test where Gideon took those who drank while kneeling and not those who drank laying on their faces. Odd test, and we don't need to figure out if there was any significance to it. The simple fact is that God left Gideon with an army ... of 300 men. Less than 1% of the mighty army he had amassed. But God had a purpose. He didn't want them to think they managed it on their own. He wanted them to KNOW that God did it. And, as it worked out, He did. So Gideon took some flash-bangs (okay, some torches in pitchers and some trumpets), surrounded the camp, broke the pitchers and blew the horns and terrified the enemy into killing each other. Magnificent! God won and Gideon took part.

It strikes me that we often find ourselves in similar situations. We're facing a problem. We might have a strategy or a plan or maybe a prayer, but it is rarely, "Lord, give me less to work with." No, we're wondering where God is. We're wondering why we're facing this with so little power and so little resources and where is God when it hurts so bad? And, as it turns out, God is at work. He's dealing with the problems in unexpected ways, using us in the process so we can be part, but making it abundantly clear that it's not us who are accomplishing the results, but Him.

Jesus said, "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), and that's not "a little something." From major efforts to your next breath, we accomplish what we accomplish by His work and His power. So when we take credit for it ("That's okay, God, I got this."), we are deceived and dishonor Him. And when we are surprised that He "isn't there" or that He came through, we are missing the point. The battle belongs to the Lord, whether it is brushing your teeth in the morning or surviving cancer. Something to give thanks for every day. It's all going according to plan -- His plan.