Hello, thank you for joining me today, forgive him 15.

And the title of our post is Unwavering Trust.

The story is told in the book, Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul.

Chicken soup for the Unthinkable Soul. Yes, that's the title. And the story says, it was a chilly

fall day when the farmer spied a little sparrow lying on its back in the middle of his field.

The farmer stopped his plowing, looked down at the frail feathered creature, and inquired,

why are you lying upside down like that? I heard the sky's going to fall today, replied the bird.

The old farmer chuckled, and I suppose your spindly little legs can hold up the sky.

One does what one can, replied the courageous sparrow.

I'm always amazed at how God uses spindly little humans to accomplish things for him.

In Judges, Chapter 6 through 8, we find the story of Gideon, who led an army of 300

and defeating an army of 135,000.

I'd call that a spindly little army. To make matters worse, Gideon had contracted a pretty

severe case of hope deferred. In his day, Israel, because of their idolatry, was being severely oppressed by the Midianites.

Sometimes we're responsible for the hope deferred in our lives. Sometimes we're a victim.

This situation had clearly been created by the Israelites themselves.

God, however, is a God of great mercy,

and he was about to forgive their sin and bring deliverance with just a shout,

the sword of the Lord and of Gideon.

As he often does, God chose as his instrument, a person who appeared to be very unqualified

for the task. At this point in his life, Gideon certainly wasn't a man of great faith.

In fact, when the Lord spoke by faith and called him

...