Without faith we cannot obey!

When God said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped

I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands.

Let all the others go home," Gideon dismissed the rest of the men,

except the 300, as God had instructed

(Judges 7:7-8).

However, considering that "the Midianites, Amalekites,

and other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts.

Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore" (v. 12),

how was Gideon able to send 12,000 of the 22,000 Israelites home

according to God's word (v. 3), and then send the remaining 11,700 people home,

leaving only 300? (v. 8)

For Gideon to be able to obey God's word was an impossible task without faith.

He acted according to God's word because he believed in what God said,

"With the 300 men who lapped

I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands" (v.7).

If he had relied on his own understanding,

Gideon would never have been able to obey God's word.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight"

(Proverbs 3:5-6).