Less Truly is MORE

Have you ever felt incapable or unworthy to accomplish something? Like you don’t have the skill set required to get the job done. These are completely normal feelings and we’ve all experienced them, but did you ever stop to think about how beneficial it is to operate from this place of lack?

Operating from a place of lack gives us an opportunity to build our faith and reliance in God. It’s not comfortable or easy, but the outcome is worth it. Besides, you’ve heard the expression, “Two hands are better than one,” and even better, “Two heads are better than one!”

There are many awesome examples of this in the Bible, but the story of Gideon tops the charts as my favorite!  The Midianites had greatly oppressed Israel, showing up each harvest to plunder and ravage their crops. Gideon considered himself weak and insignificant. In fact, when Gideon encounters an Angel of the Lord, he’s hiding in a winepress threshing wheat in secret. Gideon, from the least of Israel’s tribes, is called by God to take on the Midianites.

Gideon’s army of 32,000 men is enormously outnumbered by the Midianites when God tells him, “You have too many men.” He instructs Gideon to release anyone who is afraid, pairing his troops by two-thirds and leaving him with only 5,000 men. And the story gets even better. God then directs Gideon to reduce further, ultimately leaving him with only 300 warriors. If the odds aren’t already miserable, God instructs Gideon to attack the Midianite camp with only trumpets and pitchers - and they win! God had already planned for Gideon’s victory, but he wanted Gideon stripped of his natural reliance on self and others. By reducing Gideon’s troops to a meager amount, God’s glory was on full display, allowing HIm to demonstrate His power, His might, and His righteousness working through Gideon.  Gideon’s obedience and willingness to partner with God produced a victory over the Midianites, but more importantly, grew Gideon’s faith and reliance on His God and His ability to work through him.!

We don’t like when the odds are against us or when we don’t feel equipped to handle what God has called us to do.  Fear overtakes us and traps us in procrastination and self-doubt. Instead of partnering with God, we sidle up next to the enemy and eat from his banquet table of lies and deception.  Instead of thinking, “This is good for me,” we beg God to send reinforcements.

Change your mindset and view things from a different perspective.  When God allows the odds to oppose us, we are perfectly positioned to encounter a miracle of divine proportions.  Faith is trusting God no matter how hopeless the odds are.  These impossible circumstances are chances to experience a new level of intimacy with our Creator.  2 Corinthians 3:5 tells us,

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”

Are you facing a situation that, humanly speaking, is beyond your ability to cope with it? Take a page from Gideon’s playbook:

1. God can work with mustard seed faith: You don’t have to be the boldest or most skillful. You just have to be willing to allow God to work through you and be obedient to his instructions. When we’re hiding from what scares us most, God compels us to tackle it head-on.

2. God wants us to rely on Him for the victory: We can only hide in the winepress so long before God’s going to pull us out of our comfort zone to do His amazing work. Saying yes to God, is also saying yes to spiritual growth and an increase in your faith.

The next time you find yourself overcome with fear and doubt, stand tall, pull your shoulders back, and remind the devil, “I can’t, but God and I can,” and get down to business!