Underdog

Sometimes it good to be the underdog.

As I write this there are three NCAA basketball games on TV and in just the past few days there have been no less than eight major upsets including schools like Missouri, Michigan, Duke, Temple falling to the underdog.

God likes underdogs. I can say that with full confidence but I'm not referring to basketball or sports of any kind. God likes underdogs because when we are weak and unlikely to overcome, He comes alongside us and fights our battles for us.

The Apostle Paul said in relation to God's sufficiency and his ability, "When I am weak, then I am strong".

Not a contradiction as Paul was merely calling upon the combined history of the people of Israel and this new and quickly growing Christian Church that was born on Pentecost.

While all humans are frail and our weaknesses abound particularly if we live long enough to acknowledge them, God typically enjoys using the underdog or placing us in a position where the task is too great for man but not for God.

In the book of Judges God prepares a man named Gideon for a battle against overwhelming odds. Gideon rallys 32,000 soldiers from the tribe of Ephram, still likely inadequate but God surprises him with these words, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this—they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me. Make a public announcement: 'Anyone afraid, anyone who has any qualms at all, may leave Mount Gilead now and go home.' Twenty-two companies headed for home. Ten companies were left." (Judges 7:2-3)

The story in the Book of Judges continues, twice more God thinned the ranks of soldiers until there were only 300. From 32,000 to 300, God made sure that Gideon and his army were underdogs.

God gave Gideon a great victory over the Midianites. After dividing his company into three and using stone jars, candles and a shout, the victory came to the underdog. God got the glory.

What are you facing in this life that you feel like an underdog? Your business, finances, family, health and day-to-day trials can sometimes feel overwhelming but God loves the underdog. In First Samuel 16:7 God says that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks at the heart.

Guard your heart. Keep it fixed not on the things of the earth or the ways of man but of heaven and the instructions given to us by God. See what God can do with the underdog.