Against odds of 80 to 1, Rich Strike won the 2022 Kentucky Derby. While you will likely never run around the track at Churchill Downs, you will face challenges against the odds. By the power of God, you can win the victory.
Your first step is to look for a sign. While God does not write messages across the sky, and rarely speaks out of burning bushes, he will give you a sign regarding his will. When you feel pulled to intervene in a particular situation on behalf of someone else, or have a heart for a particular group of people, that can be a sign from God. It may be a fight you need to fight, even if it is against the odds.
The second step is to learn to live with uncertainty. Your trust is in God, not in the outcome. It would be presumptuous to believe that God is obligated to bless your work. There are many people who serve God faithfully and do not see overwhelming results from their efforts. There are no guarantees. At the same time, it is better to try something great for God, and not succeed, than to live with regrets. We learn to live with the uncertainty.
Third, we know that the victory belongs to God. God can prevail with great resources or with few resources. This is a difficult concept for us in our highly analytical age. We are always calculating the chances of success. Those mathematical formulas no longer apply when God is involved. We believe that we can win against the odds when we are working with God.
In our sermon this Sunday we will be looking in the Bible at the story of Jonathan fighting the Philistines and talking about how God can give us the victory, even against the odds.