Against All Odds

"This parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!
This he did, blow after blow. 'Shake it off and step up...shake it off and step up...shake it of and step up!' He repeated to encourage himself. No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on shaking it off and stepping up!
It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well! What seemed like it would bury him actually helped him...all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity."
-Author Unknown, taken from "Moral Stories" academictips.org

Pastor Nick has been preaching an awesome sermon series called "Against All Odds." Each sermon has centered around the difficult situations that we face and how to overcome the obstacles that may lie in our path. This past Sunday, Pastor Nick's sermon centered around Gideon. Gideon was called to be a mighty warrior to lead God's people in battle against the Midianites. After much arguing with the Lord about how he wasn't mighty and how God had forsaken them, Gideon finally began the task that God had told him to do. Gideon's army numbered about 32,000. An army that size would seem to be powerful and ready to fight. The Lord spoke to Gideon and told him that 32,000 was too many men. God continued to allow the army to dwindle until it numbered a mere 300 men! Why would the Lord do this? Wouldn't God want a strong, powerful army of his people to win the battle? No. In Judges 7:2-3 the Lord says, "You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.' (NIV) God will not share his glory with anyone. No one else deserves it and it will not be taken from God. The Lord wanted to show his people that he was strong and would fight for them. He used Gideon's little army - something that no doubt Gideon was frustrated with - to win the battle and ultimately give God the glory he deserves.

In our lives we face obstacles often. In fact, we face them daily. When faced with obstacles, we have a choice. We can complain and get angry with God for allowing those obstacles to come our way, we can give up and choose not to face the obstacle, or we can use the obstacle to accomplish what should be our goal in life - to give God praise. The mule in the story above, could have allowed his adversary, the farmer, to bury him. He could have gave up and allowed himself to be buried in the well. However, he chose to use his obstacles to obtain his goal of getting out of the well. The truth is our enemy, the devil, wants to bury us. He wants to put us as far into the ground as possible so that we can't fulfill our purpose of giving glory to God. He may use those closest to us to give up on us and bury us. No matter what tactic he may use, we must "shake it off and step up" as the mule did.

God will not fail us, but we will fail if we don't put our faith in him and obey his commands. He deserves our praise, our obedience, and our hearts. Be encouraged today - God's working things out for you!