An Unlikely Strategy

God is not in the business of doing what we think He should do. Some of the best battles fought and won in the bible are from what would be considered very unlikely strategies from our point of view. This week, we are looking at how God uses unique strategies to defeat our enemies.

We start where we left off last week in Judges 7:15-25 where Gideon was heading back to his army of men to wake them up for the battle against the Midianites. He armed each man with a trumpet, a jar and a torch, and warned the men to watch and follow his lead and to do what he did. So, at the middle watch, or at about 10:00pm, just after the Midianites had changed their guard, Gideon and his men surrounded the Midianite camp and began to blow their trumpets, smash their jars and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon!” They stood their ground around the Midianite camp with a torch in one hand and a trumpet in the other. As the trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the Midianites to turn on each other with their own swords. The enemy who was left fled and Israelites from different areas pursued them. The Israelites were saved by the hand of their mighty God!

What an unusual strategy God used to save the Israelites! Not only did He use just 300 men, but they were not equipped with swords. What a sight it must have been for these men to stand their ground while the enemy killed themselves with their own swords as Gideon’s army blew their trumpets, smashed their pitchers and waved their torches. I don’t know if Gideon knew what the plan was up front, or if God told him step by step, but it’s no wonder he needed encouragement to fight the enemy! But God knew what would glorify Him the most, and what He used was an unlikely strategy.

This Christmas season, this unlikely strategy God used to save Gideon and the Israelites has brought to mind the strange and unusual plan God chose to save mankind. Who would have thought that God would use a young virgin girl to birth His Son, who came to earth as a helpless baby? Who would have thought that He would be tempted in the ways that all men are tempted, but that He would not sin? And who would have thought that this sinless man would be required to take upon Himself the sins of the world while God turned His back on Him as He carried them? And who would have thought that God’s Son would have to die a horrible death on a cross? I’m sure that wasn’t Mary’s plan for Him. But our ways are not God’s ways. God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that this battle didn’t end at the cross, but it was won as Jesus was raised from the dead after three days! No one would have ever thought that God would save the world this way. But this was the way that God chose to save mankind even before the world was created. Now, if you have always thought that this plan to save the world was way too far-fetched to be true, think again. God uses the unusual, unlikely ways to win His battles against evil. And in order for us to win our battles, we must follow God’s lead as Gideon’s army followed his lead – watching and doing just as he did. Are you following Jesus’ lead? Are you awake and ready to battle? Remember, God’s plan may not be the plan you have in mind. We must follow His lead…

To find out more about receiving Jesus as your personal Savior, please read our blog titled, “New Life in Christ” (April 2, 2010).

@Copyright 2010 LVC Ministries, Inc.