Heartprints

A One God Army

Sunday School Chronicles

Me: So we’re in the book of Judges. Basically these judges are running Israel. They’re like presidents. Some judges are awesome but the majority are trash and all about power. Do y’all have that one person in class that acts like they’re running everything just because they’re the line leader for the day?

Kids: Ugh. Yeah.

Me: We’re told the judges, “Did what was right in their own eyes”. Not what God viewed as right but what they thought was right. Sometimes what God says is right and what we think is right can be two completely different things. Right?

Kids: Yeah.

Me: So God is like, “Ok! Y’all wanna act up? Act up for your enemies.” God let the Midianites come in and bully the Israelites. The people were sorry and cried out to God. God picked Gideon to save them from the Midianites. Cause it’s not like the Midianites were gonna be like, “Oh! You want your land back and you want us to stop bullying you? Ok! Glad you and God are cool again. Bye!”

Kids: No! They wouldn’t just leave!

Me: Gideon gathered an army of 32,000 men. God said, “Nah. That’s too many.” Gideon said, “God! But why?” God said, “Cause y’all are gonna beat your chest thinking you won like I didn’t do anything.” The army went from 32,000 to 10,000 to 300.

Kid 1: 300??????

Me: Yup. The Israelite army of 300 surrounded the Midianite camp in the middle of the night while they were sleeping. The Israelite army had jars, trumpets, and torches. That’s it. The Israelite army blew the horns, smashed the jars, lit the torches and screamed, “For the Lord and Gideon!!!!!”

Kids: Oh my gosh!!!

Me: I don’t know about y’all but when I wake up without getting my full eight hours, I’m cranky, my legs don’t work right, I can’t see cause my contacts aren’t in, my hair is still wrapped, and I wake up thinking I’m in another room but I’m just staring at the wall. The Midianite army woke up like, “Oh no! We’re getting attacked!” They were so confused that they start attacking each other. The Midianites took themselves out! The Israelite army were just standing there. They didn’t have to do a thing. Do you think people would’ve believed that story?

Kids: No. No way. Absolutely not.

Me: Exactly. Cause it makes no sense! The Israelites didn’t do anything but be obedient. God is like the king of things that make no sense. Only God could help an army win a war by using not one weapon. God fights our battles y’all!

Reflect: Sometimes God asks us to do things that may seem confusing. Sometimes, He doesn’t explain why because He just wants His children to trust that He knows best. Even though God’s plans don’t always make sense, remember that our Father is a God of order and not chaos. Pray and ask God to help you trust Him. You can ask for an explanation, too! But, He will only tell you what He feels is necessary. He knows better.

One Comment

  • sonshine

    Janay
    You have quite the knack of capturing the scene in your SS classroom. I love how you took a story and told it just as a child would. Gideon is such a great example of life on the front lines. We can learn much from him can’t we?

    Thanks Janay
    Gaye

Leave a Reply