The Itch that Rashes (Judges 7:2)

Eczema.

I first heard this term on television commercials when I was a child. Those dandruff shampoo commercials always lumped eczema with other diseases like seborrhea and psoriasis. I didn’t know what it was but I certainly did not want it, especially it it made my scalp itch and flake.

Now, many years later, I review biopsies from patients who have eczema. It is a very common problem and it is the kind of rash that can be aggravated by numerous conditions. It can also become worse by scratching it. Thus, if somehow one is able to avoid scratching oneself, most of the rash would disappear. Instead of the conventional rash that itches, eczema is the itch that rashes.

Don’t scratch, no rash! The disease seems like it is going in reverse. This disease did not read the medical textbooks! We are often conditioned by this world to think logically, a series of cause and effects. If we do A, then B happens, and so on. If there is a rash, it itches.

Gideon was about to lead the Israelites into battle. Naturally, he wanted his best warriors to be present; in fact, he had 30,000 ready men. Go to battle; take as many of your strongest fighters; superior force and numbers will win. Simple logic, or so he thought.

And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ “
Judges 7:2

So what did God do? He whittled the army down to a small force of 300 men, a 100 fold decrease! This was just the opposite of what Gideon thought he needed! And God produced a mighty victory over a much larger and stronger enemy.

Like an itch that rashes, God is able turn our expectations and logical sensibilities upside down. And He does it for one reason, to reveal His glory and to bring us to the realization of our utter dependence upon the God of the Universe.

Won’t you trust God to completely shatter all your usual expectations of life?  He will do this because He is God and He loves you.

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.