By Mayra Duran

What kind of movies or tv shows do you like the most? Drama, comedy, science fiction…What’s your favorite? I have to admit that medieval fantasy is one of my favorite genres. My mind is transported to another place thinking about these stories with swords, castles, armor, and battles. This year, one of my favorite shows aired one of the best episodes in television history. To film 60 of the most intense minutes of the season the producers had a $30 million budget, 25 days to film with a crew of 600 people. As well, besides the regular actors in the show, they needed 500 extras, 80 horses, 25 stunt doubles, and 4 camera crews. Yes, all of this was used to create a fictional, final epic battle on TV.

However, the bible tells us of TRUE stories about battles with huge armies that took place centuries ago. Without a doubt that battle that always surprises me is that of Gideon’s army against the Midianites (You can find the entire story in Judges chapters 6-8).

After reading about Gideon and being reminded about the tv show that I shared about above, I couldn’t stop thinking about how Gideon was able to defeat an army of 135,000 people with only 300 men. How!? It seems impossible but we find the answer in Judges 6:16 where God spoke with Gideon and said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Today we don’t really encounter real armies like Gideon. The battles that we fight in our lives are different ones. But just like Gideon, who are you trusting to win your battles? I don’t know the battles that you are fighting, or how big the armies are that you are encountering, but I know who is in charge of your army and that God is the one who is with you. It doesn’t matter if you encounter an army the same size as the Midianites. If you trust in God, just as Gideon did, God will fight the battle for you and His strategy is 1,000 times better than yours.

“Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.”                                                                             -2 Chronicles 20:15b