Against All Odds...

Last week, one of the girls in our small group, Lindsay, invited us to a dance benefit concert that she was in.  She is a part of a Christian dance company, and they were raising money for the A21 Campaign, an organization that raises awareness about human trafficking.  We had just gotten back from a weekend youth event and I didn't have a whole lot of energy, but I knew it was important to her that we were there.  Besides, she told me there was free Starbucks, and that I had to come (she knows my weakness).

I am not even sure that I can put into words what I felt that night.  I was aware of the issue of human trafficking, but definitely not that aware.  By the time I left that night, my heart was broken once again for the something that breaks the heart of God every day.  It was overwhelming.  It left me speechless.  It set so heavy in my heart.

Nate and I were coming home from skiing a couple nights later and I started bawling.  I kept thinking about our children in Ethiopia and really, children all over who have been trapped into slavery.  Then I thought about the thousands of teenagers and young adults who have been forced into sex trafficking.  I thought about the fact that it is happening right here in America.  I thought about the reality that I work with teenage girls on a daily basis.  I thought about the fact the statistics that were shared that night said 99% never get out.  It was overwhelming.  It was almost suffocating to think about it.

This morning at the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) that I work with at a local high school, one of our leaders shared the story of Gideon.  He reminded us that Gideon was up against this huge battle of fighting the Midianites.  He goes into battle with 32,000 men.  God looks at it and says, "You know what?  You have way too many men.  I want people to know that this battle isn't fought on their own strength.  It's fought on mine.  Get rid of 22,000 of your army."  So, Gideon does as told.  God looks at the army of 10,000 and decides there are still too many.  He decides to test the army and winds up only allowing Gideon to keep 300.  300 of the original 32,000 were going to be used to fight!  This was 1/450 of what he had started with (according to the math of my FCA student!).  The odds of taking out the Midianite Army, which was so huge they couldn't even be counted, was slim to none.  That day...Gideon and his men prevailed.  Against all odds...they won.  Moral of the story...we serve a God who beats the odds!

I have been thinking about that today.  When I think about the 147 million orphans all over the world, or the 27 million slaves around the world, or the 99% of sex trafficking victims that don't get away, or friends struggling with cancer, or couples dealing with broken relationships, or being "stuck" in a waiting process of an adoption...the odds often seem stacked against us.  The bigger picture is that we serve a God who beats the odds.  We serve a God who not only beats the odds, but invites us as his children to beat the odds with him.  My guess is Gideon looked at the odds and thought, "there is no way this is going to end well."  But then he remembered the God he served, the God who had called him to be a voice for his people, the God who parted seas, and made things happen.  And Gideon found himself willing to fight.  He found himself willing to trust.  He didn't ask questions.  He trusted the God who beats the odds.

We may feel like the odds are stacked against us...whether that is what is happening in our world or in our personal life.  My hope is that we would all choose to be Gideons in this world, living with a desire to fight for the things that matter to God and believing that even if all the odds look like they are stacked against us, God can still do something miraculous.  Living like that...would overwhelm the world.