Less Is More: Gideon

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

Follow me on Substack for application questions & reflection on each episode. Share your comments

Download Birth of Jesus E-book Here - Scroll and download
Click Here for Devotional Link

Follow Jessi Morgan on social:
IG - @JessiMorganlife
TikTok - @JessiMorganlife
IG dedicated to Home & Design - @JessiMorganHome
Website: www.jessimorganhome.com/devotions
Contact: jessi@jessimorganhome.com

Podcast Music by: prazkhanal
Song: Whip

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Jesse Morgan Devotions
• 1:36 Less Can Be More: Gideon's Story
• 3:22 The Story of Gideon Begins
• 5:02 Jesse's Track Meet Humbling Experience
• 9:24 Key Takeaways and Closing Prayer
• 10:21 Behind the Scenes with Jesse

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello, hello. You are listening to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast, episode 55. This week's devotional is titled Less Can Be More the Gideon Story. Let's go. Hi, I'm Jesse Morgan. I used to just share home decor and renovation tips on social media, but now I'm sharing something even closer to my heart my journey and love for Jesus Christ, my Savior. Welcome to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Hot Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:31

This is a weekly devotional. I started back in May 2024, but the inspiration for it came much earlier. It was rooted in a faith journey that began when my daughter was born four months early in 2023. Through that challenging time, god worked in ways that truly amazed me. On this podcast, I share personal stories of faith, woven together with scripture to show just how incredible God's word can be in our everyday lives. My hope is that through these stories, you'll be encouraged, uplifted and reminded of God's love and presence, no matter what you're going through. So I invite you to spend less than 15 minutes with me each week as we reflect on these devotionals together. Let's all pray within. Less is more. Story of Gideon, episode 55. Opening scripture I wanted to start with Judges 7, 2. The Lord said to Gideon, you have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into your hands, for Israel would boast against me. My own strength has saved me. Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Jesse Morgan Devotions for the Christian Heart Podcast. I'm so glad you're here.

Speaker 1: 1:39

Today. We are continuing our awesome study of the book of Judges, and today the featured story is Gideon, which, just so you guys know, I did do a podcast episode on Gideon episode 23, featured one of my best friends, chris Rogers, and go back and check it out. It's very different from what I'm going to be discussing today, and I think that's what makes scripture so awesome is it can be interpreted in so many different ways. So I just encourage you to check out episode 23, really focusing on weaknesses through strength, but this time we're going to look at Gideon in a different way, so I'm really excited. So today's episode is about staying humble in victory and learning that less can truly be more when God is with us. We're diving into, like I said, the story of Gideon, and I'm also sharing one of my most humbling personal stories from high school track and field.

Speaker 1: 2:36

So first of all, let's start with Gideon. Gideon, the story of Gideon, can be found in Judges 6 through 8, just so you know. So it's very interesting because Gideon is covered in more chapters than, like, most of the other judges. So clearly, the study of Gideon is very near and dear to the Lord and to the Bible. So I just I'm only going to be focusing one week on Gideon, but I just want to make sure that I wanted to make sure that I made this study as rich as possible. I wanted to make sure that I made this study as rich as possible, and I really encourage you to get in there and read his story. It is action-packed, it is absolutely amazing. I think it would be a great movie, and I think Gideon is really, really a great deliverer that represented the Lord and was a great judge for Israel.

Speaker 1: 3:23

So, anyways, we meet Gideon in Judges 6. To start off, he's hiding, threshing wheat in a wine press, afraid of the Midianites. Israel was being oppressed again, and they were being oppressed by the Midianites, and Gideon was far from a confident person or leader. God calls him, though, and calls him a mighty warrior, and tells him he's been chosen to rescue Israel. Honestly, a real coward type of dude that God chose. Even though Gideon is full of doubt and fear at the beginning, god confirms his calling in multiple ways. Then comes the part we all remember which Gideon gathers 32,000 men to fight the Midianites, but God says to him that there's too many. He doesn't want Israel to think they won by their own strength. So God takes the army down to 10,000. Still too many men, god said. Finally, god narrows it down to just 300 men. That's all Gideon needs to defeat the Midianites With no swords, just trumpets, jars and torches. God brings victory in the most unexpected way. After the win, the Israelites want to make Gideon their king, but he refuses, saying I will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you. He stays humble and remembered who the real king was.

Speaker 1: 5:02

So now let me take you back to my senior year, 2005. So I can kind of connect all this to you wondering, jessica, how are you talking about track and Gideon? Like, what is that going to be about? Let me let me explain. I ran track for Day Christian School in Miami Lakes. Our girls team had been running together since sixth grade and by the time we were seniors we were dominating Every meet, every relay. We were first. The Miami Herald newspaper even predicted we sweep the 1A state championship meet that was coming up that year. We had about 30 athletes qualify for state and seven of us were ranked top two in our events. It looked like a done deal, but the state meet didn't go the way we expected.

Speaker 1: 5:46

Let me explain how high school track scoring works. For those I don't know, because this part really matters. In each event the top eight finishers 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 place matters. If someone finishes fourth instead of seventh, that's a four-point swing that can decide a championship.

Speaker 1: 6:22

Now back to the meat. We were ready right Good weather, good energy, my team. But a small school named PK Yonge showed up with just two girls, basically, who were locked in Between them. They placed in nearly every sprint and field event, first and second. In hurdles, long jump, 200 meter, you name it, they racked up nearly 50 points on their own between the two of them and one girl who did discus. Meanwhile, some of our top field event athletes didn't place at all and in relays we had a bad exchange in the 4x1 that dropped us from possible first place to fourth place. When the final scores came in, we had lost the entire meet by one point, one point.

Speaker 1: 7:12

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 in second in the 400, and I anchored the 4x4 to gold. I was proud. But when people came up to celebrate me I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. The team lost and I realized victory is empty when it becomes all about you. That day humbled me in the best way, and I think it really carried through my life.

Speaker 1: 7:44

So Gideon's story reminds me of that too. He could have taken all the credit for that victory. He could have used that moment to elevate himself, but he didn't. He stayed grounded. He acknowledged that the victory came from God and refused to step into a role, king, that he wasn't called to do. And I want you to hear this clearly you don't need a huge army, you don't need the most medals, you don't need the biggest house or bank account. If you have God, you have enough period. Your 300 is enough.

Speaker 1: 8:23

So this week's takeaways I want you to really remember these. Take the victory, but don't let the victory take over you. Less can be more when God is leading 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 this amazing podcast episode and for allowing us to focus on Gideon's story.

Speaker 1: 8:53

I can honestly say I needed this reminder for the week and I pray that it blesses someone else as well. Thank you for the lessons in Gideon's life how victory is good, but it means nothing without you. Thank you for showing us that less can be more when you're on our side. Lord, help us to remember these truths in our daily lives. Help us to glorify you in all that we do, not just when we win, but even in our waiting, our weakness and our losses. We love you. We praise you In Jesus' name, amen.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Well, that wraps up this week's episode. I hope these devotions help you draw closer to God each day. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message. If this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who might need the same message and 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 to reach out, check the show notes or visit jessimorganhomecom or find me on Instagram at jessimorganlife. Remember God's timing is always perfect. Keep trusting him Until next time.

Speaker 1: 9:59

This is Jessi Morgan praying off. Jessi Morgan Devotions behind the scenes, starting right now. What's up? Everyone? Um behind the scenes this week. Jesse morgan, it's gonna be pretty short and sweet. Um just wanted to really um come to you again, thanking you again so much for the support and it's been such a blessing to be able to study the book of judges I I think it's a book that kind of gets overlooked. It's squished between Moses and King David and I think Judges at times gets a little lost in there and I'm just so excited to be able to share it with you. If you were learning things from it. I'm so excited for that and I just want to really thank you again.

Speaker 1: 10:55

I think God has just blessed me so much through this study and, I'll be honest, the last couple of months have been very tough for me mentally, spiritually at times, and I've been really really challenged and every time I go through one of these stories. It just holds me accountable that God is in control, and this week, with Gideon's story, I realized it as well. Less can be more and I don't need all this huge strategy and plan to be able to carry through what God needs me to get done, and I think that's just been the biggest blessing for me this week, and I just want to encourage you all. If you're having a really tough time thinking that you need all these different things, all this information, this paperwork, all these to get it done, you got to understand too that you got to make sure that your faith is where it needs to be to get it done first, and that God is going to be the center. You're going to depend on God for everything that you need. You cannot sit there and depend on money or depend on another person. To really be that crutch that you need to get through something, it needs to be the Lord, and I encourage you to seek out God, start your day with him. There's been days I don't start with him and it has just really made it a rough day for me, and I just encourage you to keep God first. So thank you so much for this week.

Speaker 1: 12:23

Just to let you know I'm on officially on Substack and I'm having some really cool application questions that will go with each podcast for the week. So there'll be questions just to think about, to be laid on your spirit. If you want to write it out, if you want to have a comment about it, you can share it on Substack. You could send me a note through there. So I'm just really excited to be on there so I can kind of get back to the blogging aspect that I really enjoy with writing. But thank you so much, love you all, until next time. Jessie Morgan praying off.