“Then the Lord told Gideon, “I’m going to deliver you with 300 soldiers by giving the Midianites into your control. Send everyone else back to their own homes.” - Judges 7:7

Have you ever seen the movie 300 or read the book Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield? Both are legendary pieces of media that tell the story of 300 Spartans led by King Leonidas as they take a final stand and fight off the Persian army. It’s an incredible story, just maybe (definitely) don’t let the kids watch it. But did you know there’s another story of 300 outnumbered soldiers, an even older story (Seriously, the Spartan's battle took place in the 4th Century BC, and this one took place in the 12th Century BC!) right in the Bible? 

Judges 7 tells us the story, as it recounts the story of Gideon and his army preparing to fight against the Mideonite army, and the odds don’t look great even from the beginning. The Mideonite army was estimated to be about 135,000 soldiers, when the story begins, Gideon’s army consists of 22,000 men. That’s when things get weird, in typical Biblical fashion. Already significantly outnumbered, God tells Gideon he has TOO MANY soldiers, and for all the guys who are scared to go ahead and go home. “If you’re scared, we don’t even want you fighting here, go home.” Now THAT is hardcore, and maybe a little bit crazy. But God isn’t done, He says there are STILL too many, and even now, if they win, they’re so egotistical that they’ll somehow think they pulled it off on their own. So, he reduced the army's size even further to just 300 men. And then, guess what? They go off to battle, God gets involved, and Gideon’s army of 300 men secures the victory against an army of 135,000 Mideonite Soldiers. Pretty cool, no?

There are two notable takeaways in this story, so this one might be a bit longer than usual (sorry about it), but firstly, can we note how God tells Gideon to tell all the scaredy cats to go home, like a moment straight from Braveheart? It’s a lesson that who you do life with matters immensely. Not only are you not strong enough to do things on your own, but you also aren’t strong enough to overcome doing life with the wrong people. Don’t get me wrong; we should be witnesses to everyone around us and show the love of Jesus, and we shouldn’t be judgmental jerks. But when it comes to the people who fight our battles with us, the people who stand by us in our weddings, or when we bury those we love, the people who are there at our lowest, the people who fight alongside us on the battlefield of life, not just anyone will fit the bill. Sometimes, you have to create addition by subtraction because trying to do life with the wrong people will result in you losing battles you should have won. That’s the beauty of church, by the way, finding a church is finding your brothers in arms.

Secondly and lastly, God tells Gideon that the army needs to be smaller because even against tall odds, if they win, they’ll attribute it all to themselves. And if we’re honest, maybe someone who isn’t as invested in Christianity may initially read that and think, “What’s His deal? They DID fight, and if they win, they deserve some credit, that took some serious guts.” And that’s an honest response. But I think God is trying to keep us in the correct thinking, protecting us from being set up to fail by thinking we're more powerful than we are. I heard a friend of mine say once that he took his little daughter out to lunch, and she ordered a gigantic plate of french fries. When he asked if he could have one, she slapped his hand away with an emphatic NO and said they were HERS. This is hilarious to us because she wouldn’t have had ANY of the fries without her father, but just like her, we are so prone to giving ourselves all the credit and ownership when we wouldn’t have had any of it without our father. He gave us life and literally CREATED anything we could ever have. 

So as we go through this week, who are you doing life with? Are the people you are counting on to fight alongside you going to aid you in the struggles of life or hinder you? And are YOU going to aid them, or be a hindrance to them? Do you have a band of brothers (or sisters, for the ladies) that you can count on through thick and thin, to make each other better and support each other in the battlefield of life? And are you walking in the recognition and gratitude of God’s kindness? That every good thing we have, could have never happened without Him? (“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” - James 1:17) My prayer is that we would work towards walking in humility alongside those who will fight valiantly alongside us, and in the shadow of a God who we know is fighting too. When you are living for God and in Godly community, you are never without a band of brothers, and you are never fighting alone. So stand tall, be brave, and charge forward. It’s a new day, and no odds can stop you when you have the most outstanding General in the history of the world guiding your every step.

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