The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many troops for me to hand the Midianites over to them, or else Israel might elevate themselves over me and say, ‘I saved myself.’” – Judges 7:2

No one likes to be weak. No one likes to be sick. No one likes to be humbled. We all wish, and probably most often pray, to be strong, healthy, well respected, and successful. Usually, if it was up to us, we would like to accomplish all we can under our own power. Asking for God’s help is often something we do only when we have come to the end of ourselves. “I accomplished this incredible thing!…and God helped a little when I was struggling.”

But the truth is, in every accomplishment, every success, and every victory it should be God and God alone who gets the glory. So, for that to happen, God may purposefully and systematically bring us to the end of ourselves. Like Gideon, God may need to whittle down our forces and weaken us so that he gets all the glory. I can personally say that I have had a lot of confidence in myself. I am ashamed to say that I have elevated myself over him at times. However, when God has crippled me, both physically and emotionally, there is nowhere left to turn but him. At that point, every accomplishment and every victory must be attributed to him because I have nothing left to contribute. This is one of the most difficult things to say in life, but it must be said; thank God for your weakness. It is the crippling of our strength that helps us to see the incredible saving power of our God.

Almighty God, our deliverer, we thank You for the demonstration of Your power even when it means the destruction of ours. We praise You because You are the one who saves!

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor Shane Cannon