“Why would God have me stand for my marriage when I was responsible for many of the problems in the first place?” “I love my wife (husband) with all my heart, but maybe I deserve to be where I am.” “I didn’t even know many of the scriptures; let alone the ones about marriage and divorce.” “I am too weak; there is no way I can possibly save my marriage.” “Who am I to even think God would help me?” “I am so inadequate for God to ask me or use me to do anything for Him.” Sound familiar? Probably. But they are all questions and statements that we SHOULD NO LONGER be entertaining! Not only do we have the right to want our marriages healed, but God’s Word tells us we must stand for the restoration of our marriages.)

Having made it to the FAM site, we have probably already come to the realization that God has indeed chosen us to stand for our marriages and to carry out a very important task for His glory. And most of us have many other signs from God confirming that He wants us to stand for our marriages as well. Maybe we have met couples who have had their marriages restored; maybe our ministers support and encourage our stand; or it might simply be that God has spoken to us through His Word, the Bible.

So as we move forward in our journey of marriage restoration, I would like to remind us of the story of Gideon. Although his situation did not involve a hurting marriage, he was specifically asked to do something by God, and he too questioned why God would choose him with his unlikely ability to do what was asked. So, if we know God has called us to stand for our marriages and we still question if we have what it takes to do it, we can certainly learn from Gideon.

Well, first of all, Gideon was not the wisest, strongest, smartest or most spiritual person on earth. But he was resourceful, and dedicated to his family and provided for them well. Like us, he was in most aspects, just another “normal” person.

And Gideon, like many of us, questioned God about being asked to do something so important and so challenging. Why him? He questioned why God would come to him with such a request, and he didn’t try to hide his feelings of inadequacy for the assignment. I don’t know about you, but I have entertained the same thoughts; what do I have that makes God think I can do this? I failed in my marriage already; why does He think it can be “fixed” now? Fortunately, FAM provides plenty of information and encouragement as to why God wants our marriages restored and the importance of our obedience to God’s Word. So what are we to do? What did Gideon do? Once Gideon was convinced that God had called him, he obeyed with zest, resourcefulness and speed. He dedicated himself to being obedient to God and by faith, he trusted God’s plan.

Since we can probably relate to Gideon’s weakness, and possibly still even question God’s call to us, we can learn from him and strengthen our willingness and commitment to serve God as we stand for the full and complete restoration of our marriages. Gideon was a man who obeyed God by giving his attention to the task at hand. So like him, we must give our full attention to believing God will prepare us for tomorrow when tomorrow comes, in restoring our marriages and in every other aspect of our lives. God will release His supernatural power, as we, in faith, trust Him and His promises. And when we are at our weakest, God WILL BE shown to be His strongest!

Did Gideon win the victory against the Midianites with a huge, powerful army? Did Gideon win the victory because of his intelligence and superior strategic war knowledge? Did Gideon have the background to lead an army? No, God was in charge and He had a plan and He PROMISED Gideon victory. Gideon had no idea how they would defeat the Midianites; because it looked impossible in human terms and based on human effort to defeat an army of 130,000 with only a few thousand men. And then, as if the odds were not already overwhelming as they were, God told Gideon to let some soldiers go; not once, but even cutting the number of soldiers a second time until only 300 were left. An army of three hundred soldiers was going up against an army of one hundred, thirty thousand! Don’t those odds look just about as impossible as the odds of marriage restoration looks to us?

But God explains His reasons for making the odds seem so impossible in Judges 7:2 (NLT), which says The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. So God wants the glory and honor. God wants people to know that through Him all things are possible.

Gideon’s army went on to defeat the Midianites – through the power and plan of God; and ALL Gideon was required to do was to obey his Heavenly Father. That is ALL we are called to do; obey and trust in the Lord.

We will not and CAN NOT restore our marriages through anything we do. And most of us have already exhausted all of our own efforts anyway; but we will not and CAN NOT restore our marriages without the power of God. God wants us to come to Him, to read and believe His Word, and to trust Him as we obey His Word. He is waiting for us to lay it all down at His feet; giving it all to Him, and letting Him heal and restore our marriages so we can glorify and honor Him with our testimonies; not by what we did but because of what our mighty, powerful, loving God has done.

Judges 7 (NLT)
Gideon Defeats the Midianites
1 So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.
3 Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain[a] and go home.’” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight.
4 But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.”
5 When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.”
6 Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.
7 The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”
8 So Gideon collected the provisions and rams’ horns of the other warriors and sent them home. But he kept the 300 men with him. The Midianite camp was in the valley just below Gideon.
9 That night the Lord said, “Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
10 But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah.
11 Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack.” So Gideon took Purah and went down to the edge of the enemy camp.
12 The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count!
13 Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!”
14 His companion answered, “Your dream can mean only one thing—God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!”
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord.[b] Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! For the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!”
16 He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it.
17 Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do.
18 As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
19 It was just after midnight,[c] after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars.
20 Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape.
22 When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23 Then Gideon sent for the warriors of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh, who joined in chasing the army of Midian.
24 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to attack the Midianites. Cut them off at the shallow crossings of the Jordan River at Beth-barah.” So all the men of Ephraim did as they were told.
25 They captured Oreb and Zeeb, the two Midianite commanders, killing Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. And they continued to chase the Midianites. Afterward the Israelites brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan River.

Posted Monday, August 6th, 2007 at 5:50 pm in Seeds Of Faith.