Judges 7:2-7 -- On Obvious Miracles

"And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place."
Judges 7:2-7


I think it is kind of funny that God kept whittling down the amount of men that could go fight this battle, because he didn't want anyone to think that their strength had delivered them... he wanted it to be clear to them that God had done it. (Not funny as in ridiculous, but funny as in a little amusing that it was necessary.) I am wondering if that happens in our lives sometimes too... maybe why things seem impossible sometimes, because God wants it to be clear when a miracle happens rather than us thinking that we were just that good, or that well-prepared, or whatever. :)

I'm not convinced that lapping water is inherently better than the other option, although I have heard lessons where someone claimed that it showed those men were the most ready or aware of their surroundings or something. That could be a thing, but to me it just sounds like God was trying to find a way to get a very small subset of the original group, so that winning seemed impossible, and then he would deliver them anyway.

Today, maybe we should think about the miracles in our own lives, whether obvious or not, and whether we are paying attention. ... I think we might be a little too often like the ancient Israelites, dismissing things that don't seem quite miraculous enough. :) On the other hand, let's remember that no matter how bleak things seem, God can still deliver us. Let's trust God a little more and worry less about the obstacles. God always makes a way for us to do as he asks.