⁴ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The troops are still too many; take them down to the water and I will sift them out for you there… So he brought the troops down to the water; and the Lord said to Gideon, “All those who lap the water with their tongues, as a dog laps, you shall put to one side; all those who kneel down to drink, putting their hands to their mouths,^[c] you shall put to the other side.” ⁶ The number of those that lapped was three hundred; but all the rest of the troops knelt down to drink water. ⁷ Then the Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred that lapped I will deliver you, and give the Midianites into your hand.                                     Judges 7

Trey Burton is a wide receiver for the Eagles football team.  Usually, He catches passes from the Quarterback, but at this Super Bowl, he threw a touchdown pass to Nick Foles.  In an interview with Sports Illustrated after the game, Burton was asked about the team’s success, especially with a backup quaterback and six starters injured and out for the end of the season.  He thought for a moment and then gave the most remarkable answer.  He said that he thought it was a Gideon moment.  Because they had such great challenges, the Lord received more glory for the win than if they had been strong with superstars on the team.

In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus tells his disciples, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God, all things are possible.”  We all drop those words when the going is tough, but do we really believe it?  Are we willing to place trust in the Lord and work on, believing that God can do all things?  Do I think God tilted the Super Bowl to the Eagles?  Not really, But do I believe that God enabled the players to do their best?  Yes.  They still had to call good plays and put their whole effort into the game.  Even with under 3 minutes to play and Brady holding the ball, they were to do their very best.  And the results?  A win!

So when we are facing difficult challenges, the lesson is not that God will always make things come out okay.  Rather, even when things look bleak, the game is not over.  Our calling is not necessarily to win but to play the game with our best effort and remember that God can do all things.

Prayer:  Gracious God,  you have called us to put our trust in you.  In this life, we know that everything will not always turn out the way we want, but we can still trust you, knowing that you want only the best for us.  Let us no grow weary in the effort of life; let us never give up hope.  Instead, may our faith in you lead us to strive onward, trusting in you to bring all things to their appointed end.  Amen.P