As humans, we love to figure things out. We like to connect the dots, calculate the outcomes, and predict how things should unfold. There’s a certain comfort in knowing that if we add two and two together, we’ll get four.
But with God, the math is often different. Sometimes, 1 + 2 equals 300, just like in the case of Gideon.
Gideon started with 32,000 men, but God said, “That’s too many” (Judges 7:2). By the time God was done trimming his army down, only 300 men remained. And yet, that tiny band of warriors was enough to defeat an enemy as vast as a swarm of locusts, an army whose camels alone were as numerous as the sand on the seashore (Judges 7:12).
God’s strategy has never been about numbers or logic. In His hands, one person can chase a thousand, and two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30). A small group of His people can send entire nations into terror, not because of their strength, but because He fights for them (Joshua 23:10).
Yet, when faced with challenges, people tend to fall into two categories that we see in the attitudes of two kings in Scripture, one trusted in his own might, while the other leaned on God.
Are You a Jehoshaphat or an Ahaz?
Jehoshaphat sought the Lord, leaned on Him, and saw miraculous victories. Ahaz, on the other hand, had the offer of victory handed to him on a silver platter, no battle strategy required, no exhausting prayers needed. God Himself assured him of triumph. Yet, in a tragic twist, Ahaz still chose fear over faith.
God even went as far as inviting him to ask for a sign; any sign at all, to confirm His promise. But instead of embracing this divine reassurance, Ahaz put on a show of false humility, saying, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.” (Isaiah 7:12). It sounds pious, but in reality, it was disbelief wrapped in religious language.
Wouldn’t he have been better off crying out like the desperate father in Mark 9:24, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”?
Ahaz had the same invitation Gideon had, and the same opportunity to trust. But he refused. And that choice cost him everything. The very nation he turned to for help not only refused to help but ended up oppressing him instead (2 Chronicles 28:20-21). When we refuse to trust God’s plan, we often find ourselves trapped in the very thing we tried to avoid.
That’s the thing: as long as you’re busy plotting your own graph, you’re telling God you don’t need Him. You’re saying, “I’ve got this.” But Scripture is clear, the wisdom of man is foolishness to God (1 Corinthians 1:25).
Joseph: Learning to Wait on God’s Timing
This lesson repeats itself throughout Scripture, as we see in the life of Joseph. I believe this was a crucial lesson Joseph had to learn in prison. At some point during his imprisonment, he had grown and matured. He was wiser, more level-headed, and undoubtedly more sensitive to God’s ways. But he was still trying to map out his own escape plan.
And can we blame him? A few days in confinement is hard enough, let alone years in prison. I imagine he often wondered, “How much longer?”
Then, suddenly, an opportunity presents itself. Two of Pharaoh’s servants are thrown into prison with him. He interprets their dreams, and with a hopeful heart, he makes a simple request: “When you get out, please remember me.” (Genesis 40:14).
It made sense as he plotted. He must have thought, “Now that I’ve been a blessing to these men, surely they will remember me. Surely, this is my way out.” But they didn’t. And God let them forget, because Joseph’s deliverance wasn’t going to come from men. It was never about human connections, strategies, or perfect timing. It was about God’s plan, unfolding in God’s way.
From prison straight to the palace.
Joseph, in his wildest dreams, could never have conceived the magnitude of God’s plan for his life. His exit from that season of his life couldn’t be ordinary. It had to be grand. Not as a common man slipping quietly into the streets, begging to be helped. No, that wasn’t the script God was writing.
If Joseph had been released at the time he expected, what would have become of him? He would have simply joined the crowd, another man trying to make ends meet in Egypt’s bustling economy. But hustling was never God’s plan for him.
And so, Joseph waited. Two more years. Two years of silence. Two years of unanswered questions. Two years of finally reaching the end of himself. No more trying to connect the dots. No more plotting his own way out.
God’s plan was to shoot him into greatness. Not a slow climb, not a gradual rise, but a sudden launch. He was like an arrow in God’s quiver, pulled all the way back, stretched to the limit and then released with precision.
Joseph was an arrow, fired by the very hands of God, the One who never misses His target. God never miscalculates. He never aims and fails. And He wasn’t about to start with Joseph.
But here’s the thing, a man called to govern nations cannot afford to depend on himself. He must be a man who relies solely on God.
I believe that was part of the reason for the delay, why he had to wait a little longer. Because when his moment came, it wouldn’t be by the hand of man. It would be by the hand of God. And when the time was right, in a single day, Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister, no networking required. Because with God, the equation is never logical.
When Joseph’s time came, it wasn’t a man who remembered him.
It was God who did.
Here’s the truth, if God doesn’t help a man, no one truly can. Even if someone tries to rise up having plotted his graph, without God’s backing, they are as vulnerable as cattle fattened for the day of slaughter, seemingly secure, yet gone in an instant. Without God, even the strongest alliances can crumble, and the most promising help can vanish overnight or even turn around to be your oppressor. But when God moves, He does it in a way that no man can take credit for.
The Jehoshaphats: Surrendering from the Start
Then, there’s the category of Jehoshaphat, the ones who, from the very beginning, surrender like children before God, they don’t like stress.
They don’t waste time plotting graphs or crafting backup plans. They don’t rely on their own strength. They simply fall before His face, seeking His mercy and blessing. Because they know; without God, they are finished.
Like Jehoshaphat, they shift the battle to God. They don’t try to figure it all out; they just trust. And in return, God delights in defending them.
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” (Exodus 14:14). God loves to be our Father, our refuge, our strong tower. It’s His pleasure to step in while we step aside.
Look at Solomon. When he ascended the throne, he had big shoes to fill. His father, David, was a legendary king. The weight of responsibility must have been overwhelming. But Solomon didn’t panic. He didn’t run off making political alliances like Ahaz or scheming his way into power like Jeroboam. Instead, he did the very thing that set him apart, he turned to God. He said: ‘Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.’ (1 Kings 3:7)
Contrast that with Jeroboam, who took a completely different route. Instead of trusting God, he let fear rule him. He worried that if the people kept going to Jerusalem to worship, they would turn their loyalty back to Rehoboam. So what did he do?
He plotted his own graph.
He set up golden calves, appointed priests who weren’t Levites, and even created his own festival to replace the ones God had ordained (1 Kings 12:26-33).
What did he gain? Nothing but loss and destruction. Because that’s always where human wisdom leads; away from God and into ruin.
But for those who surrender like Jehoshaphat? Those who let God take the wheel from the very beginning?. They walk in victory that only God can give.
Which One Are You?
Are you plotting your own graph?
Or are you letting God write the equation?
With God, you don’t get to plot your own graph.
He calls the shots, and when you follow His lead, the outcomes defy human logic.
Besides, isn’t it too much ‘headache’ trying to plot your own graph?
How far can you really go before you wear yourself out?
That place you’re looking to for help… there is none there.
That man or woman you’re desperately trying to reach? If God hasn’t sent them, they’re not the answer.
Fix your focus on God. Let Him do the plotting, the reminders, and the promptings.
