It Has to be God

Judges 7:1-7
(1) Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
(2) The LORD said to Gideon, "The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'
(3) Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, 'Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.'" Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
(4) 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."
(5) So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, "Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink."
(6) And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
(7) And the LORD said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home."

I know that normally I try to find something more esoteric to post, but this passage goes along with what we discussed yesterday in my small group. We were talking about the Holy Spirit and how we should undertake projects that require His intervention to be successful. In other words, God gets no glory if we could have done something on our own.

The story of Gideon reflects this too. God could have let the Israelite army remain at 32,000 and they certainly would have defeated Midian. However, because of the zeal He has for His glory He reduced the army to 300. He is the one who clearly defeated Midian, though Gideon did have to be faithful.

This story of course also gives us an example of how a man with weak faith was able to do great things for God. However, I also think we need to be careful about using Gideon as a prescriptive example. I don't think it honors God to "put out a fleece" or demand other signs. He gave us what we need in His Word. That should be enough. It sometimes isn't for me, but it certainly should be. His faithfulness is clearly great. Let's remember that as we try to do great things for Him.