Have you ever been outnumbered? Have you had the odds stacked against you? Where do you turn when the odds aren’t in your favor?

Early in Israels history of kings there is a story that is worth referencing surrounding these questions. After King Solomon the nation of Israel is divided. 10 tribes went with Jereboam son of Nabat and 2 tribes, Judah and Benjamin formed the southern nation of Judah under David’s grandson Reheboam. After Rehaboam died his son Abijah became king. Jereboam saw this as his opportunity to claim the entire nation, so he marched 800,000 troops against Judah. Abihah could only muster half that number and fielded 400,000 men. These odds did not look good, but that did not discourage Abijah.

What do you do when the odds seem stacked against you?

Abijah didn’t seem to fazed, instead of looking for favorable ground or strambling for a new battle strategy he marched his army toe to toe with Israel and He gave a speech to the nation of his cousins telling them to turn and go home and save their lives since there was no hope they could win this battle. Where was Abijah getting this sort of courage? He trusted the promise God had made to his great grandfather David.

“Don’t you know that the Lord, the God of Israel, has given the kingship of Israel to David and his descendants forever by a covenant of salt?” —‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭13‬:‭5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This is when the odds turned even less favorable for Abijah. While he was giving his speech, half of Israel’s army broke off and founds it’s way to the rear of Judah. They were already outnumbered 2 to 1, and now they are surrounded in front and on their flank. There seems to be no way this is going to work for Judah.

How do you respond in impossible situations that seem have no favorable path forward?

This is how Judah responded.

“Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the Lord. The priests blew their trumpets and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.” —‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭13‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The outcome was not attached to might, field advantage or battle strategy. What mattered was claiming the promise of God. There are two points we can take away from this. One, it doesn’t matter if everything looks to our advantage, if we aren’t aligned with God, it does not matter. Eventually it will fail. Second, if we are walking in Gods truth, the odds do not matter, God will work it out for his good.

What odds seem against you right now?

The only hope in praying against all odds is to pray into the promises of God.

What promises of God can you claim in your moment of weakness?

If none come to mind, this is a good opportunity to get together with a friend to help remind you and pray into these.