LITTLE IS MUCH

          Once again the inscrutable wisdom of God turns man’s conventional reasoning on its head.  The arithmetic of God is quite different from the standard manuals of mathematics.  Our world is hung up on BIG things.  If objector outsiders were to try to paint a picture of the mores of our pre-sent American culture, they’d likely describe us as a people who have a fastidious fascination with MORE.  For many, it has become a given:  more is always bigger and better.  We are often fixated on quantity over quality.  But quantity has never been God’s criterion for judging a person’s faith-fulness or success.  As one of Jesus parables underscores - - MORE IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER.  cf. Lk.12:15ff.  How different the outcome might have been had he learned to live on less.  How terribly tragic that in grabbing for more “the rich man” invariably marginalized his felt-need for God.    

          One of the most vivid stories of how little is much is found in the marshalling of Gideon’s army.  The army of Israel was poised to engage in a  battle with an axis of evil comprised of Midianites, Amalekites and the sons of the east who were as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Judg.7:12).  God directed Gideon to shrink his army, which initially numbered 32,000.

The Lord said to Gideon, the people who are with you are TOO MANY for Me to give Midian into their hands, lest Israel become boastful, saying, ‘My

own power has delivered me’ (Judg.7:2).  Thus, God had Gideon send home 22,000 who were afraid.  Of the 10,000 Israelite soldiers remaining only 300 were retained, but what God accomplished with Gideon’s small army defies human comprehension.  The numbers don’t always tell the tale.

          There’s a formula here that we must not miss:  THERE IS MUCH IN LITTLE WHEN GOD IS IN IT.  Or to say it another way, “one plus God equals a majority.  The problem with “big” and “more” is that it tempts man to aim for autonomy, but it was never God’s intention to have creatures who would long to supplant their Creator.  This yearning was what caused Adam & Eve’s to be banished from paradise (cf. Gen.3:5 & 22-24).  While we innately seem to long for self-governance, in the spiritual realm this inordinate desire for autonomy becomes sinful.  Let’s pray that we never reach

the point where we declare, “I don’t need God anymore.”  If we arrive at such it will not be a high-water mark for us, but rather a low point signal-ing our downfall.  One day long ago on the shores of Galilee, the disciples were dumbfounded as to how they could possibly feed a multitude that included 5,000 men, aside from women and children.  For a moment they forgot the God factor:  5 loaves and 2 fish…and 12 baskets of leftovers.  

                                                                                                   Terry Siverd / Cortland Church of Christ