Reduction in Force
Still too many men.
When Gideon had 32,000 men, God told him it was too many. Gideon knew it wasn’t nearly enough.
Yet, he’d learned to listen to God. He tested Him and tried Him, and now he believed Him.
He remembered how the angel had said to go in the strength you have.
So he took his 10,000 remaining men and got ready to fight with what he had.
And then he heard those dreadful words.
There are still too many men.
Ten thousand is too many?
Is it really the best time for a reduction in force?
::
I’m in the middle of one of these myself. The emails keep coming, blow by blow.
The labor grows larger while the forces grow smaller.
Upper management is not so popular with us right now.
I’m not sure what Gideon thought about upper management about that time, but he went along with it. Just like we’re doing.
These that remained, these 10,000, were all fighting men, ready to go to battle. The cowards, remember, already went home to their wives and mothers.
But though all these were ready, and though all these were willing, not all these were destined to fight this battle.
Gideon took his still too many men to the river where God said He’d pick and choose.
And he then waited while God watched them drink.
This one shall go with you . . .
. . . This one shall not go with you.
It all came down to how they drank their water.
::
Serious?
No resumes.
No list of past conquests.
No demonstration of agility with the sword or accuracy with the bow.
No proving of courage.
No meaningful measure of the warrior’s fitness at all.
Only how they drank their water.
::
You knelt on the riverbank? Thank you for your interest. You have not been selected for this position but we will keep you in mind in the event a suitable position opens in the future.
We don’t need you this time.
::
You lapped like a dog? Welcome. We’re pleased to have you fight with us.
Go get ready for battle.
::
What of those who took their RIF notices and went home?
God didn’t need me.
He preferred to go to war against the horde with a mere 300 men than take me along.
How bad a warrior I must be. How useless in this army He’s put together.
He didn’t pick me.
He’s better off without me.
::
The 22,000 weren’t ready to fight. We know why they ran home.
But this other 9,700, those who were sent home, they were ready. They were brave. They were warriors.
They wanted to fight.
Yet, He didn’t take them.
::
Seems, at times, I’m like the 9,700. I drank the water wrong.
I knelt when I should have lapped.
I lapped when I should have knelt.
I used a cup instead of a pail. A straw instead of a hose.
It all seems so arbitrary.
God didn’t pick me for the task I’d trained for.
He only wanted 300. I wasn’t one.
::
Those 9,700 went away shaking their heads.
RIF’d.
They wouldn’t fight this fight.
They wouldn’t fight this time.
Oh, but there were other battles ahead. They would fight another fight, in another place and on another day.
When He sits me down or sends me home because of how I drank the water, I need to know this. I need to know He’s not done.
There is another task. Another fight.
Another place on another day.
::
But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.”
Judges 7:4-7
This is a profound reflection and modern-day application for a story that unfolded at water’s edge long ago.
What really hits me is how what seems so arbitrary makes complete sense in God’s economy. I need to remember that.
Thank you for this.
2009/05/27 at 10:28 PM
Jennifer, thanks. I so rarely grasp how God’s economy works. I often must simply trust that He’s in it, let go my need to get it. And that’s always a steep hill to climb.
2009/05/28 at 5:14 PM
As one who feels like one of the 9700, I have to remember that it isn’t about me. It is about what God is doing. While I get my feelings hurt about that, I have to try to remember that God’s economy isn’t mine. His thoughts are not my thoughts and His thoughts are not centered around my feelings getting hurt. It doesn’t mean He doesn’t care (he knows every hair on my head) and isn’t intimately involved in my life, but in my arrogance, I sometimes (okay a lot) think it is all about me. Maybe I need to have a change of perspective. . . as you said, there are other battles to fight.
2009/06/23 at 7:25 AM
His ability to love me deeply and work His plan that doesn’t necessarily center on me — both at the same time — blows me away.
2009/06/23 at 1:06 PM