Born into the weakest branch of his family tree, Gideon considered himself to be the runt of the litter, and yet God called him a mighty warrior. Could it be that God counts you as a mighty warrior, too?
For seven years the raiders of the East pillaged the land, stole crops, killed cattle, and forced Gideon’s countrymen to hide in mountain clefts, caves, and forts. Cringing in fear, they slinked away from the battlefield.
Christian businessman Peter J. Daniels notes, “The poverty mentality that has afflicted Christians in wealthy nations is a masterstroke of satanic genius. It has impoverished us for decades. It has denied that every Christian is of royal blood.”
I witness this each week in downtown Raleigh. The poor—those sleeping outside for lack of shelter, the ones who work two jobs but still sleep in a shelter because the rent deposit is three months’ wages—this is the type of poverty we read about and hear about on the news. Homelessness is a crisis in some cities.
But the solution is so simple it’s beyond the realm of believability—as is the cure for poverty mentality? (More on what poverty mentality is in a moment.)
When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, the soon-to-be hero of the story didn’t break out into a praise-and-worship song. He didn’t fall face down in wonder. He dared to ask, “If I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.”
Are you waiting for a sign from God that He is calling you to do what Jesus did—and greater things?
Any encounter with a living God will change us, and Gideon is our example.
He received a new title: “Mighty Warrior.”
He received a new mission: “Strike down the enemy.”
He received God’s power: “I will be with you.”
He received God’s blessing: “Go in the strength you have.”
The climax of Gideon’s quest to strike a blow against God’s enemies reads like a military blunder. God commanded this “mighty warrior” to pare down his troops to three hundred: a mere one percent of a thirty thousand-man army. But one percent of anything with God by our side is a strategy for success.
“Our protection and prosperity does not come from the sword, or microchip or factories,” says Daniels, “but from the hand of God.”
Here is what one percent means to the homeless crisis in Raleigh, North Carolina. (And if it works in Raleigh, it will work in your town, too.)
If one percent of Raleigh’s believers gave one hundred dollars a month, that’s ninety thousand dollars every month, without anyone missing a car payment or a vacation. A realistic fifteen hundred dollars a month for a room is enough to house sixty people at any one time. Cap the stay of each individual at six months—enough time for them to find steady work and begin saving funds—and that revolving fund could move one hundred and twenty people off the street in a single year.
And here’s where it multiplies: once someone lands a job, stability, and respectability, they become a contributor to the program that helped them. That’s more than food and shelter. That’s a life, changed one hundred dollars at a time.
Again, we’re talking only one percent. For God, that’s all He needs to bring victory.
I’ve seen this happen with LindaLeeAnn. She was on the streets, moved into a room, went back on the street, we got her back in a room, and the process, though longer than we’d liked, got her to a place where she is working full time for Harris Teeter, has her own apartment, and now serves meals to the poor on Sunday at Moore Square. All this was done with less than one percent.
God is the multiplier of gifts. Give, and He promises, it will be given to you by others pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
The LORD turned to Gideon and said, “Go in the strength you have and save.” Judges 6:14 (NIV)
My question to believers in Raleigh, throughout America, is this: will you go in the strength you have and save?
Oh, about that poverty mentality thing: if you fear you’ll go broke by giving to someone in need, you suffer from a poverty mentality. It matters not what your income level is—rich or poor, you can still be poor in spirit. The cure? Jesus, and being filled with His Spirit and His faith. Ask the Lord to increase your faith. Then watch that poverty mentality flee.