Why Does God Use Curious Methods?

Sometimes God’s methods for accomplishing His purposes leave me shaking my head. Gideon’s story is a classic example (Judges 7:1-8:17)

Gideon’s story

God told Gideon to rescue the Israelites from the Midianites. You’d think God, knowing the size of the task, would supernaturally rally the troops and then equip them with the latest in body armor and high-tech weaponry. At least that’s what human logic would assume. But the Divine doesn’t often give human logic a second glance.

In this story, God looked at Gideon’s army and said,

“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.”

And so the whittling process began.

The troops initially numbered 32,000. God dropped that number to 300. Then He equipped them with rams’ horns, clay jars and blazing torches. And that’s how the victory was won.

Humn logic and God’s methods often collide

Our nature feels secure when things make sense, when we can formulate plans and see how they’ll work. But God’s methods don’t fit our mould. He seems to delight in the impossible, even the ridiculous. And then He expects us to trust Him in the process! How audacious is that?

Why does God use curious methods to accomplish His purposes? Because He gets the recognition when there’s no human explanation for victory. Our faith grows when there’s no human explanation for the inexplicable.

Sometimes God’s methods make me squirm. But truth be told, I’d rather serve a God who embraces the impossible as opportunities to prove His power than a God limited to methods that my finite mind can understand. I don’t need a God whose methods I can understand. I need a God whose methods leave me in awe.