Words have true meaning. In yesterday’s verses we saw that the Bible says we are MORE THAN conquerors in Christ…
When we are a conqueror, we are the winner. How can we be more than a conqueror?
I asked the Lord about this one day and He reminded me of the times in the Old Testament when He went with the Israelites in battle and they were victorious without engaging in the fight. They showed up trusting God, but it was the Lord who did the fighting. They just gathered the spoils of war when it was over.
Let’s look at a couple of those battles. There was Gideon; in his obedience he was required to break a few water pots and blow a few horns. The Lord caused the enemy to become confused, the army killed themselves and Gideon carried home the riches.
“The camp was huge. The Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern nations covered the valley like a swarm of locusts. And it would be easier to count the grains of sand on a beach than to count their camels. 13 Gideon overheard one enemy guard telling another, ‘I had a dream about a flatloaf of barley bread that came tumbling into our camp. It hit the headquarters tent, and the tent flipped over and fell down.’
14 The other soldier answered, ‘Your dream must have been about Gideon, the Israelite commander. It means God will let him and his army defeat the Midianite army and everyone else in our camp.’
15 As soon as Gideon heard about the dream and what it meant, he bowed down to praise God. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and shouted, ‘Let’s go! The Lord is going to let us defeat the Midianite army.’
16 Gideon divided his little army into three groups of one hundred men, and he gave each soldier a trumpet and a large clay jar with a burning torch inside. 17-18 Gideon said, ‘When we get to the enemy camp, spread out and surround it. Then wait for me to blow a signal on my trumpet. As soon as you hear it, blow your trumpets and shout, ‘Fight for the Lord! Fight for Gideon!’
19 Gideon and his group reached the edge of the enemy camp a few hours after dark, just after the new guards had come on duty. Gideon and his soldiers blew their trumpets and smashed the clay jars that were hiding the torches. 20 The rest of Gideon’s soldiers blew the trumpets they were holding in their right hands. Then they smashed the jars and held the burning torches in their left hands. Everyone shouted, ‘Fight with your swords for the Lord and for Gideon!’
21 The enemy soldiers started yelling and tried to run away. Gideon’s troops stayed in their positions surrounding the camp 22 and blew their trumpets again. As they did, the Lord made the enemy soldiers pull out their swords and start fighting each other.” Judges 7:12-22 CEV
Gideon was definitely more than a conqueror.
Gideon was an unqualified soldier, an unproven leader and God chose him anway because his heart was right. It wasn’t Gideon’s might or ability that won the battle, it was his availiablity.
God will use any of us who are willing and available. His plan is that we, too, are more than a conqueror!