Against All Odds

Have you ever been in a situation where you believed God was in your circumstances, yet it seemed like barriers kept rising in your path? When I've gone through those times, it feels like God is forcing me to trust Him by putting me in a situation where I have no choice but to depend on Him.

Tonight, I (Jim) was reading a bible story to Lily before she went to bed. We read about Gideon, who had a remarkable encounter with God. Gideon was asked to lead the Israelites in defeating a superior army. Gideon wasn't a war hero and, in his own strength, was ill equipped for the task. But God's call was clear. After putting God to the test (twice), Gideon was ready to obey. Even though the odds were against him, he believed that God would allow the Israelites to prevail.

God wanted to teach Gideon and the Israelites a lesson they would never forget. He reduced the size of Gideon's army to 300 men, asking them to fight and defeat an enemy probably numbering in the tens of thousands, or more. You've got to appreciate God's sense of humor. However, He was very clear about His reason for asking Gideon to lead the Israelites in a battle where victory could only be achieved against all odds. God wanted to make it clear that victory was in His hands, and not dependent on human efforts.

That was quite a blessing for me. If you've been following our blog, you know that we've been a bit worried about how we were going to raise the money needed to complete our adoption. We were very discouraged to learn that, of the 3 grants we had recently applied for, the one we felt was most likely to help us ended up turning us down. I felt just like Gideon must have felt when he was asked to do a seemingly impossible task, and then God took away some of the human resources Gideon assumed he would need. The truth is, God doesn't need our efforts. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and can provide for our needs in any way He chooses. By applying for grants, we are not assuming that is the only way God can provide, but we are engaging in our own circumstance and choosing to participate in the process. Whether God chooses to provide through that channel is up to Him and remains to be seen. Our job is to stay the course, trusting in Him, and not our efforts, to bear fruit.

With each day that passes, I am growing even more excited, and nervous. Excited because I know God is in this and confident that He will come through; yet, nervous because of my human limitations that can't yet see God's hand, or the method and timing of His provision. I can't wait to join Gideon on the other side of this situation. I long to spend the same amount of time praising God as I have praying for His provision. I can't wait to be able to share my Gideon story about how God came through and met our need against all odds. After all, nothing is impossible for God. The limiting factor is our faith, not God's ability. Please join us in continued prayer for provision to complete this journey. We look forward to celebrating with you when we're on the other side. Thanks for listening, and for your prayers.