We like to believe that we’re special. And we are. But not quite the way we think. When it comes to God, special does not mean superior. Just look at Gideon. Scared, in need of reassurance, struggling to trust God –remind you of anyone? God used the soldier to deliver His almighty plans, but not before he made it absolutely essential for Gideon to trust his maker.
God promises to deliver the Midianites into his hands, and for proof he sends Gideon into enemy territory where he overhears his enemies discussing a dream as true and prophetic that it can only have come from God.
We know that dreams and interpretations were special things throughout the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. There are many cases of non-believers in Yahweh having a dream and men of God being given the interpretation, with Joseph perhaps the most famous. But this is a first: a non-follower of God having the dream and another non-follower having the interpretation. And it's correct. Heck, God even tells Gideon to listen to their conversation as he will receive encouragement about the divine plan.
The whole thing smacks of God's mighty power. A mini-loaf of bread made out of second rate materials is enough to crush a tent. A pathetically small army tastes victory on an almighty scale. A frightened, untrusting man gets to be at the front of the move of God. A couple of enemies - soon to end up dead - are used by God as His mouthpiece. It's almost too much to take in, but take it in we must: God works how, when and through whoever He likes in order to achieve His purpose.
This is God's battle, and we are merely part of the team. And who are we fighting? The injustice, sin and oppression that are the result of a world turned from God. Sometimes the battle is out there with elements of the world that are living contrary to God - the oppressors themselves. But at other times the fight takes place on home turf, against our own sin; our desire to hold on to God's blessing for ourselves, our self-conceit that we are better than others, our self-delusion that God only speaks to and through us. Sometimes the battle is in us.