On the Other Side of the Camp
Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. ‘Watch me,’ he told them. ‘Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’ Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.
-Judges 7:16-22
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath.
-Judges 7:22
“Gossip dies when it hits a wise person’s ears.”
Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard.
-Judges 7:19
We are often defeated because we insist upon our own power and resources. With the call of God comes the power and wisdom of God to lead us to victory. Yet, when we go at any obstacle in our own wisdom and understanding, we risk catastrophic failure. Rather than seeking and patiently listening to the voice of God, we sprint out ahead, operating in our own wisdom, manufacturing our own plans, unaware of what is happening on the other side of the camp. As a result, our timing and methods wreak havoc.
-Jeff Vines, ‘UnPossible’
If God calls you to do something, you better believe He is working on the other side of the camp to ensure the victory!
It is he who made us, and we are his; we are His people, the sheep of his pasture.
-Psalm 100:3
Every event of your life, from the happy to the tragic to the mundane, is part of a meticulous and purposeful design in which all the elements intertwine with breathtaking precision to accomplish the work of the ultimate caretaker in the Ranch House Headquarters.
-Jeff Vines, ‘UnPossible’
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
-Romans 8:28-29
God is orchestrating his pieces on the chess board to accomplish His ultimate good and we are part of the movement.
Resolution six: God is always working on the other side of the camp.
Are you beginning to see the high price of a life without discipline?
To my surprise, he spoke the pure Mandarin Chinese which I understood perfectly. We discussed various things until I asked, very daringly, ‘Why did you invite me, a foreign woman, to come into this Monastery and teach your priests?’ He responded, ‘It’s a long story but it starts out like this.’
-Gladys Aylward
Five hundred Monks in a remote place hear the Good News of the Gospel because people in different places doing different things heard the voice of God and obeyed, believing, that if God was asking them to do something difficult, He must be working on the other side of the camp, preparing the way that would lead to an extraordinary adventure and an exhilarating victory!
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