5 February 2020 - don't count on it

Gideon and His Three Hundred

Today's Readings

(Audio)

Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people

David was tempted to believe that his strength came from the number of his people. But the LORD expected him to know better. Gideon had started ready to attack with thirty-two thousand men and the LORD ultimately only allowed him to go with three hundred. With them he promised "I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand. Let all the others go to their homes." There were similar stories of Moses that conveyed the same message.

Our strength is not a function of our circumstances. It takes faith to believe this. But once we learn to walk in it we find that the LORD fights our battles for us. They may still be difficult, but when we rely on the LORD they become bearable. He longs to show forth his grace and his power in us. However, we tend to prioritize what we can see. We treat ourselves as the sum of the list of skills on our resumes our the trophies or awards we have won. This makes a certain superficial sense. But it denies the LORD the due thanks he deserves for each and every blessing of our lives.

It is I who have sinned;
it is I, the shepherd, who have done wrong.
But these are sheep; what have they done?
Punish me and my kindred.

Let us make a conscious effort to be more humble before the LORD. It means relying on ourselves less and him more. It means decreasing so that he can increase. It means owning the responsibility ourselves for the times we fail to do this but all the while waiting for and welcoming the LORD's mercy.

When learn to rely on the LORD more continuously we are less at risk of the false familiarity that limits his power.

Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
And are not his sisters here with us?

We get used to the LORD's actions only insofar as we ignore them and begin to act as if we are the source of our own strength. We even pray, go to mass, and sing his praises. But we forget that it is his prompting that draws us to do so. He is the one who gives us, in whatever measure we have them, hearts of flesh to love him. When we remember this things never get old. They never get stale. We are thankful for all he does and are ready for the new thing he is always beginning.