Less Is More: Gideon

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Growing up, I always believed bigger was better. More soldiers, more teammates, more resources—that's how victories happen, right? Then I encountered the story of Gideon, where God deliberately reduced an army from 32,000 to just 300 men before a critical battle. "You have too many men," God told him. "Israel would boast against me, 'My own strength has saved me.'"

This countercultural principle changed everything for me, especially when I reflected on my own high school track experience. 

Gideon's story parallels this beautifully. With just 300 men armed with trumpets, jars, and torches—no swords!—God delivered a stunning victory. You don't need the biggest army, the most medals, the nicest house, or the fullest bank account. If you have God, you have enough. Period. Your "300" is enough when God leads the way.

What areas of your life might God be asking you to reduce so He can work more powerfully?

Key Passages: Judges 6-8

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, hello.
You are listening to the JesseMorgan Devotions for the
Christian Heart Podcast, episode55.
This week's devotional istitled Less Can Be More the
Gideon Story.
Let's go.
Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan.
I used to just share home decorand renovation tips on social
media, but now I'm sharingsomething even closer to my

(00:21):
heart my journey and love forJesus Christ, my Savior.
Welcome to the Jesse MorganDevotions for the Christian Hot
Podcast.
This is a weekly devotional.
I started back in May 2024, butthe inspiration for it came
much earlier.
It was rooted in a faithjourney that began when my
daughter was born four monthsearly in 2023.
Through that challenging time,god worked in ways that truly

(00:43):
amazed me.
On this podcast, I sharepersonal stories of faith, woven
together with scripture to showjust how incredible God's word
can be in our everyday lives.
My hope is that through thesestories, you'll be encouraged,
uplifted and reminded of God'slove and presence, no matter
what you're going through.
So I invite you to spend lessthan 15 minutes with me each

(01:05):
week as we reflect on thesedevotionals together.
Let's all pray within.
Less is more.
Story of Gideon, episode 55.
Opening scripture I wanted tostart with Judges 7, 2.
The Lord said to Gideon, youhave too many men.
I cannot deliver Midian intoyour hands, for Israel would

(01:29):
boast against me.
My own strength has saved me.
Hey, everyone, welcome back tothe Jesse Morgan Devotions for
the Christian Heart Podcast.
I'm so glad you're here.
Today.
We are continuing our awesomestudy of the book of Judges, and
today the featured story isGideon, which, just so you guys
know, I did do a podcast episodeon Gideon episode 23, featured

(01:54):
one of my best friends, chrisRogers, and go back and check it
out.
It's very different from whatI'm going to be discussing today
, and I think that's what makesscripture so awesome is it can
be interpreted in so manydifferent ways.
So I just encourage you tocheck out episode 23, really
focusing on weaknesses throughstrength, but this time we're

(02:14):
going to look at Gideon in adifferent way, so I'm really
excited.
So today's episode is aboutstaying humble in victory and
learning that less can truly bemore when God is with us.
We're diving into, like I said,the story of Gideon, and I'm
also sharing one of my mosthumbling personal stories from
high school track and field.

(02:36):
So first of all, let's startwith Gideon.
Gideon, the story of Gideon,can be found in Judges 6 through
8, just so you know.
So it's very interestingbecause Gideon is covered in
more chapters than, like, mostof the other judges.
So clearly, the study of Gideonis very near and dear to the
Lord and to the Bible.
So I just I'm only going to befocusing one week on Gideon, but

(02:58):
I just want to make sure that Iwanted to make sure that I made
this study as rich as possible.
I wanted to make sure that Imade this study as rich as
possible, and I really encourageyou to get in there and read
his story.
It is action-packed, it isabsolutely amazing.
I think it would be a greatmovie, and I think Gideon is
really, really a great delivererthat represented the Lord and

(03:20):
was a great judge for Israel.
So, anyways, we meet Gideon inJudges 6.
To start off, he's hiding,threshing wheat in a wine press,
afraid of the Midianites.
Israel was being oppressedagain, and they were being
oppressed by the Midianites, andGideon was far from a confident

(03:43):
person or leader.
God calls him, though, andcalls him a mighty warrior, and
tells him he's been chosen torescue Israel.
Honestly, a real coward type ofdude that God chose.
Even though Gideon is full ofdoubt and fear at the beginning,

(04:05):
god confirms his calling inmultiple ways.
Then comes the part we allremember which Gideon gathers
32,000 men to fight theMidianites, but God says to him
that there's too many.
He doesn't want Israel to thinkthey won by their own strength.
So God takes the army down to10,000.
Still too many men, god said.

(04:26):
Finally, god narrows it down tojust 300 men.
That's all Gideon needs todefeat the Midianites With no
swords, just trumpets, jars andtorches.
God brings victory in the mostunexpected way.
After the win, the Israeliteswant to make Gideon their king,

(04:48):
but he refuses, saying I willnot rule over you.
The Lord will rule over you.
He stays humble and rememberedwho the real king was.
So now let me take you back tomy senior year, 2005.
So I can kind of connect allthis to you wondering, jessica,

(05:09):
how are you talking about trackand Gideon?
Like, what is that going to beabout?
Let me let me explain.
I ran track for Day ChristianSchool in Miami Lakes.
Our girls team had been runningtogether since sixth grade and
by the time we were seniors wewere dominating Every meet,
every relay.
We were first.
The Miami Herald newspaper evenpredicted we sweep the 1A state

(05:31):
championship meet that wascoming up that year.
We had about 30 athletesqualify for state and seven of
us were ranked top two in ourevents.
It looked like a done deal, butthe state meet didn't go the
way we expected.
Let me explain how high schooltrack scoring works.
For those I don't know, becausethis part really matters.

(05:52):
In each event the top eightfinishers earn points for their
team.
First place is 10 points,second place is eight points,
third place is six points,fourth is five points, fifth is
four points, six is three points, seventh is two points and, of
course, eighth is one point.
That means every single placematters.

(06:14):
If someone finishes fourthinstead of seventh, that's a
four-point swing that can decidea championship.
Now back to the meat.
We were ready right Goodweather, good energy, my team.
But a small school named PKYonge showed up with just two
girls, basically, who werelocked in Between them.

(06:36):
They placed in nearly everysprint and field event, first
and second.
In hurdles, long jump, 200meter, you name it, they racked
up nearly 50 points on their ownbetween the two of them and one
girl who did discus.
Meanwhile, some of our topfield event athletes didn't
place at all and in relays wehad a bad exchange in the 4x1

(06:59):
that dropped us from possiblefirst place to fourth place.
When the final scores came in,we had lost the entire meet by
one point, one point.
Personally, I had a great day.
I came in second in the 200,where people didn't expect me to
place that high, and I came insecond in the 400, and I

(07:20):
anchored the 4x4 to gold.
I was proud.
But when people came up tocelebrate me I couldn't do it.
It didn't feel right.
The team lost and I realizedvictory is empty when it becomes
all about you.
That day humbled me in the bestway, and I think it really
carried through my life.

(07:44):
So Gideon's story reminds me ofthat too.
He could have taken all thecredit for that victory.
He could have used that momentto elevate himself, but he
didn't.
He stayed grounded.
He acknowledged that thevictory came from God and
refused to step into a role,king, that he wasn't called to
do.

(08:04):
And I want you to hear thisclearly you don't need a huge
army, you don't need the mostmedals, you don't need the
biggest house or bank account.
If you have God, you haveenough period.
Your 300 is enough.
So this week's takeaways I wantyou to really remember these.

(08:27):
Take the victory, but don't letthe victory take over you.
Less can be more when God isleading the way.
Stay humble, stay grateful,stay submitted to his plan.
Let's pray, heavenly Father,thank you for everything you've
done for us this week.
Lord, thank you for thisamazing podcast episode and for

(08:50):
allowing us to focus on Gideon'sstory.
I can honestly say I needed thisreminder for the week and I
pray that it blesses someoneelse as well.
Thank you for the lessons inGideon's life how victory is
good, but it means nothingwithout you.
Thank you for showing us thatless can be more when you're on
our side.
Lord, help us to remember thesetruths in our daily lives.

(09:12):
Help us to glorify you in allthat we do, not just when we win
, but even in our waiting, ourweakness and our losses.
We love you.
We praise you In Jesus' name,amen.
Well, that wraps up this week'sepisode.
I hope these devotions help youdraw closer to God each day.
If this episode encouraged you,please share it with someone

(09:34):
who might need the same message.
If this episode encouraged you,please share it with someone
who might need the same messageand don't forget to subscribe so
you never miss a weekly episode.
Also, if you feel compelled,leaving a nice review would be
so appreciated as well.
For more information or toreach out, check the show notes
or visit jessimorganhomecom orfind me on Instagram at
jessimorganlife.
Remember God's timing is alwaysperfect.

(09:57):
Keep trusting him Until nexttime.
This is Jessi Morgan praying off.
Jessi Morgan Devotions behindthe scenes, starting right now.
What's up?

(10:22):
Everyone?
Um behind the scenes this week.
Jesse morgan, it's gonna bepretty short and sweet.
Um just wanted to really umcome to you again, thanking you
again so much for the supportand it's been such a blessing to
be able to study the book ofjudges I I think it's a book
that kind of gets overlooked.
It's squished between Moses andKing David and I think Judges

(10:45):
at times gets a little lost inthere and I'm just so excited to
be able to share it with you.
If you were learning thingsfrom it.
I'm so excited for that and Ijust want to really thank you
again.
I think God has just blessed meso much through this study and,
I'll be honest, the last coupleof months have been very tough
for me mentally, spiritually attimes, and I've been really

(11:08):
really challenged and every timeI go through one of these
stories.
It just holds me accountablethat God is in control, and this
week, with Gideon's story, Irealized it as well.
Less can be more and I don'tneed all this huge strategy and
plan to be able to carry throughwhat God needs me to get done,

(11:34):
and I think that's just been thebiggest blessing for me this
week, and I just want toencourage you all.
If you're having a really toughtime thinking that you need all
these different things, allthis information, this paperwork
, all these to get it done, yougot to understand too that you
got to make sure that your faithis where it needs to be to get
it done first, and that God isgoing to be the center.

(11:55):
You're going to depend on Godfor everything that you need.
You cannot sit there and dependon money or depend on another
person.
To really be that crutch thatyou need to get through
something, it needs to be theLord, and I encourage you to
seek out God, start your daywith him.
There's been days I don't startwith him and it has just really

(12:16):
made it a rough day for me, andI just encourage you to keep
God first.
So thank you so much for thisweek.
Just to let you know I'm onofficially on Substack and I'm
having some really coolapplication questions that will
go with each podcast for theweek.
So there'll be questions justto think about, to be laid on
your spirit.
If you want to write it out, ifyou want to have a comment

(12:38):
about it, you can share it onSubstack.
You could send me a notethrough there.
So I'm just really excited tobe on there so I can kind of get
back to the blogging aspectthat I really enjoy with writing
.
But thank you so much, love youall, until next time.
Jessie Morgan praying off.