The Numbers that Matter

Written for Power to Change.

Please open your Bible and read Judges 6:36-40.

When Gideon doubted God’s promises, he put out a wool fleece at night. In the morning, the fleece was sopping wet and the ground around it was dry. It was a miracle! The next day, he tested God again, and the opposite occurred. The ground was wet, but the fleece was dry. It was God again!

Gideon, like many of the important leaders in Israel’s history, had many reasons to doubt that God would choose him to rescue Israel. When God first called him, he was hiding at the bottom of a wine press, threshing grain because of fear, for good reason. Interestingly, God’s call to him was “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” (Judges 6:14, NLT)

Gideon’s response, much like Moses‚ before him was, “But Lord, how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” (v15)

Then Gideon asks God to prove that He is serious. God does, over and over again. Gideon apologizes for not trusting Him but then asks Him to do the fleece thing again. God does.

Then God goes through the process of building the army that Gideon was to lead. Instead of increasing numbers however, God went through the process of taking the army from 22,000 to just 300. The reason was simple. The Israelites could not say they won the battles themselves.

God picks the people to lead who can’t see why they were picked at the start. David, Moses, Gideon and every New Testament disciple were the opposite of who the world would have chosen to be their leaders. However, God did call them. He called them because they would have to depend on Him.

There are many in ministry that don’t feel they were born to be leaders. I am one of them. The fact I am leading at all is only because God called me from the hidden cubicles of the IT department and has pulled me along for over a decade.

Today I want you to think about taking a step into leadership, no matter what your role is, and own your role. The best part is, the qualification for whether you are a leader in God’s mission is that you are unable to do it on your own.

So ask yourself, “Is this a role I can do on my own?” If the answer is no, congratulations, you’re hired!

Father, Remind me that it was never about me anyway, it was always about You. Thank you for your promise that if I show up, willing to do the thing you’ve asked me to do You’ll take care of the rest. Amen.

Questions: Can you identify with leaders such as Moses and Gideon? How do their stories encourage you to take the next step as a leader?