The Blended Blog: Weekend Devotion

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Weekend Devotion

I'm going to try to make this Weekend Devotion a weekly thing on my blog. Some of the devotions will be my own thoughts, some from others that come to me that I feel are worth to pass on. It could also be a hymn or story or anything spiritual. As time goes on I may find a icon to add to the posts. With blogger I can work these ahead of time and schedule them to post which I love. Since this is a kind of random thing at the spur of the moment for today I'll use one that came in an e-mail to me. I trust you enjoy it.

"Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod."

Judges 7: 1

King James Version

The Well of God's Victory

"Victory" - A successful struggle. Having triumphed.

"God wants us to be victors, not victims; to grow, not grovel; to soar, not sink; to overcome, not to be overwhelmed."

William Arthur Ward

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

I Corinthians 15: 15

K.J.V.

If ever there was a war hero in the Bible, who knew what the word "victory" meant, it was Gideon. And in the Book of Judges, chapter seven, we find a detailed account of a battle that took place between the Israelites and the violent, oppressive Midianites who were as the Bible says "As grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number and they entered into the land (of the Israelites) to destroy it. And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites (Judges 6: 5-6, K.J.V.).

At this time the Israelites were so frightened by the army from Midian, they had taken to hiding in mountainous rocky areas and caves. Talk about being paralyzed by fear.

However, there was one man, Gideon, who God called to be a catalyst. And a catalyst with God in his heart was just the person necessary to lead the Israelites at this crucial time.

With the power of God on his side, Gideon rallied the people. He had all the men who would volunteer meet him at the Well of Harod. Just for interest sake, I went to my Hebrew dictionary and guess what the meaning of "Harold" is? Believe it or not, "Harod" means fountain of trembling. And that's exactly what the Israelites were doing. Their knees were knocking together, their teeth were chattering and their hearts were pounding.

So God came to Gideon and said, "You have to get rid of some of these people." Gideon couldn't believe his ears! Too many? He didn't think he had enough. But God wasn't finished. "Proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart...and there returned twenty and two thousand (22,000); and there remained ten thousand (10,000).'" Oops! That's major attrition. But the defections weren't over yet.

God said to Gideon again, 'The people are yet too many; bring them to the water...every one that lappeth with his tongue set by himself, but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred (300)...all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, by the three hundred (300) will I save you" (Judges 7: 1-7, K.J.V.). This is exactly what happened. These 300 men broke into three groups with trumpets and torches and God on their side and a decisive victory was the result.

Now, the key to this story - the answer to why so few were chosen by God is found in Judges 7: 2. You have 22,000 supposed willing soldiers, camped by the "Well of Trembling." So God said, "Let the tremblers leave. I'm going for a victory today. And if those of you who will trust me, will rely on me, will look to me for your direction, will follow me - you'll be victorious." The 300 who were left were God's chosen army. Three hundred fighting against a multitude of people that were as plenteous as a swarm of insects. Pesky grasshoppers, no less.

But here's God's point. "There are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me" (Judges 7:2 K.J.V.). Or as the Amplified version says, "Lest Israel boast about themselves saying, 'My own hand has delivered me.'"

Here is the heart of our devotional today. For there is a strategic advantage you and I have in the battles in our lives whether it is drug or alcohol addiction, family problems, or those personal battles we wage in our own hearts as we struggle to stay on a spiritual path with God. Our advantage is to remember who is in command and who deserves the credit for our victory. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, sayeth the Lord of hosts" (Zechariah 4: 6, K.J.V.).

In the beautiful words of St. Bernard, "If Christ is with us, who is against us?
You can fight with confidence where you are sure of victory. With Christ and for Christ victory is certain."

May whatever your "Well of Trembling" - is be turned into God's "Well of Victory" today.