A few people took exception to one of my articles the other day, when I referred to Gideon as a coward. Maybe that was overstating the case; I certainly wasn’t using coward in the sense of Revelation 21:8, referring to someone who would deny their faith to save their skin. I was mainly noting how many times the story of Gideon refers to him being afraid.

I like Gideon, actually, because I can relate to him. His feelings of inadequacy. His fears. His doubts about God’s activity. I’m not perfect, and neither was he.

I love the story of Gideon and what it shows us about the power of God. I especially like the part where God is whittling Gideon’s army down to size. First, He lets everyone go who is afraid. 22,000 left! Out of 32,000. Gideon wasn’t the only one with a bit of fear. Then God said that 10,000 were still too many. “And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”” (Judges 7:4)

Then some of the men drank in one way and some in another. God chose the smaller group. Now I’ve heard people say that the 300 drank like real fighters, keeping their guard up as they drank. If God were selecting a group of Navy SEALS, that might be true. God is about to send men out with pitchers, torches, and trumpets to face and army that couldn’t be counted. He’s not looking for fighting ability. If anything, He was probably choosing the weakest among them! Remember, this is all about God getting the glory and not man.

Anyway, from bad fighting odds (32K versus uncountable troops), God moved things to impossible odds. Just like He likes them. This is the God that defeated entire armies with one (Samson) or two men (Jonathan and his armor bearer). This is the God that took down Goliath with an armorless shepherd boy. God likes to work without man’s strength, to work through weakness.

I think that may have been the problem with David taking the census (though I’m interested in hearing other theories). David seemed to have forgotten that he wasn’t depending on horses and chariots, but on the name of the Lord. It didn’t matter how many men David had, and David failed to recognize that.

God works through weakness. He prefers the long odds. What does that say to the church today?