Gideon was down at the bottom of a winepress, threshing wheat. It was an odd place to be but a safer one—the Midianites and others stole everything from the Israelites. One day Gideon saw a messenger from God sitting beneath an oak tree. When Gideon approached him, the messenger said: "'Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!'" (Judg. 6:11-12, NLT).

Gideon couldn't believe it. He saw no evidence that God was with him at all. But the Lord replied, "'Go with the strength you have. … I am sending you!"' (Judg. 6:14). First Gideon argued, saying his clan was the weakest and he was the weakest in the clan. But God told him: "'I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man'" (Judg. 6:15-16).

That night Gideon pulled down the pagan altar and built an altar to the Lord. That just made his own people angry because now they knew that they were in big trouble. But when the enemy started advancing, Gideon blew the ram's horn, and the soldiers rallied to him. Was Gideon ready to lead? Not quite. Even with the assurance of victory promised by God, Gideon still asked for proof—he put out his fleece (see Judg. 6:36-40).

Finally getting the point that maybe he could do this, Gideon was ready with his men when God began winnowing down his troops from 32,000 to 10,000. Then God did it again and left Gideon with 300 fighters. It must have been unbelievable for Gideon. But God was teaching him an important point. He was telling Gideon: "You aren't doing this. I'm doing this. You can't rely on your own ability or troop strength. Rely on Me." The Lord said, "'With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory"' (Judg. 7:1-8).

That's what God did. The 300 men crept up on the enemy camp after midnight, blew the rams' horns and broke clay jars, where they had hidden torches. The noise and flame woke up the enemy troops, scaring them so badly that they saw enemies everywhere and fought each other (see Judg. 7:19-22). All Gideon's men had to do was the mopping-up phase of the operation.

Ultimately, we have to realize that when we fight the battles God calls us to fight, we have to do it in His strength—not our own. We have to be certain God is leading and that we do not just trust in ourselves. And unless we are vigilant, we will also turn to the gods of our culture. In the end, in spite of all that God did for the Israelites, they turned against God and worshiped their own gods (see Judges 8:27). When it comes to human weakness, this is a lesson for us all.

Roger C. Palms is former editor of Billy Graham's Decision magazine and author of 15 books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles.