August 5

Faith by Reduction

 

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. ––Philippians 1:9-10

Gideon often gets a bad rap as a kind of coward, but actually, he was a pretty clever guy. When his city was facing imminent invasion during the grain harvest, he tricked the Midianites by threshing wheat in the winepress, where they would not think to look. Even there in the dark pit of the winepress God looked at Gideon and called him a mighty man of God. The world sees the actions; the Father sees the intent. We see a scraggly homeless guy collecting cans; the Lord sees a war veteran with PTSD trying to get his life on track.

God tested Gideon’s faith through reduction, not increase. In Joshua 7 God raised up Gideon to take on the Midianite army, and Gideon mustered 20,000 warriors. The Lord then had him reduce that number to 10,000, and finally, to a measly 300. How on earth was Gideon going to defeat an army that was “thick as locusts”? In fact, the enemy’s “camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore” (Joshua 7:12). But the Lord confused the Midianites, put fear in their hearts, and they scattered in panic.

God will often reduce our options in order for us to choose His. It’s like the Price Is Right in reverse: we see three doors but He reduces the option to just one—if we tune our ear to His voice. When He strips us of worldly tools (power, influence, intellect, charisma, etc.) and still comes through, what does that do to our faith? It increases. At times God will strip you bare so He can rebuild you into a better model. It may not feel good, but it can produce greatness in you. If you are like me, the world “great” is not one I often use to describe myself. But God does—He called Gideon out from a pit smelling of sour vinegar and called him “mighty” for the man God saw He would become, not for the man he currently was.

God’s men don’t run from discipline or the process the Father might use to bring reduction in their life. When you are walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, and submitted to the Father’s will, He may shear off a lot of worldliness to help move you from functionally good to spiritually great. Don’t miss what Jesus called God’s narrow gate (path) of reduction. Walk through it. As we decrease and reduce, He increases and expands.

Father, help me recognize when You are reducing my options to give me Your best option.