Judges 6-8: In God We Trust

The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” So twenty–two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.”  - Judges 6:2-7 NIV

I love the story of Gideon, because it illustrates how prone we are to confusing our strength with the power of God.  The enemies of Israel were the enemies of God.  They may have felt that the Israelites were weak and puny, but they had not reckoned with God's power.  The even more unfortunate circumstance was that God's people no longer trusted in their God to be all powerful.  They too were trusting in Baal and the other foreign gods.  No wonder they had to abandon their farms and villages and hide in mountain caves.  As long as they looked to other gods, their situation was going to worsen.

The only God that we can trust, the God of the universe, is not concerned with the size or the strength of the enemy.  As long as Israel sought the same gods as the enemy, they would be overpowered.  It took only one man, Gideon, to hear the true God's voice and suddenly the way out of their predicament became clear.  Victory would not be won by ten thousand men, by the largest and mightiest army.  It would be won by only three hundred men and one man who heard the voice of the living God.  It's one thing to say "In God We Trust", but it all depends on who or what that god is.