When God comes again to Gideon with a command and a promise, He knows that Gideon needs to have his courage shored up (Judges 7:9). So He sends Gideon and Purah into the Midianite camp, where they hear two men talking about a dream (v. 13).

This is a beautiful example of God's sovereignty. He directs Gideon and Purah so they come to precisely the right tent at exactly the right time, and plants both the dream and its interpretation in the Midianites' heads. And it is then that Gideon learns the greatest lesson of his life: this is not a battle between 300 Israelites and 135,000 Midianites; it is God fighting Midian. For the first time, Gideon comes to realise the greatness of God, and he worships (v. 15). We are never truly prepared for battle until we know what it is to bow in worship before God (see Daniel 11:32).

God has also set up the Midianites by planting fear in their hearts (vv. 14, 22). Their concern is irrational-why should an army of 135,000 fear an army of 300? The only answer is that God has already prepared Midian for Gideon. When God calls us to do battle for Him, He always goes before us. In God's grace, we are destined for victory in Jesus.

We enter into that victory when we learn the lessons of preparation for victory. God does not call us to believe in ourselves or in our own adequacy. Rather, He strips us bare, taking us down to the point where we must depend on Him. Then, in grace, He takes us by the hand and teaches us that we can trust completely in Him. We need to learn the lesson of dependence so that we may move on to learn the lesson of confidence. We learn that we can do nothing without Him. Then we delight to discover that we can rely completely upon him. Having learned these great lessons, we are prepared for victory.

When Gideon's men are given instructions on how to attack, they must wonder how they are going to carry it out (vv. 16-18). Their weapons are trumpets and large clay pots containing torches. They are told to blow the trumpets, shatter the jars, brandish the torches, and shout. That's it! But even though they do not understand all that God is going to do, they choose to trust their leader, because they have become convinced that the Lord stands behind Gideon's strange plans.

There is a great lesson here: It is not our responsibility to understand how God is going to keep His Word or accomplish His work; our responsibility is to know what He calls us to do and to do it.