{"id":563,"date":"2022-05-25T19:04:10","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T19:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=563"},"modified":"2022-05-25T19:05:10","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T19:05:10","slug":"from-the-underdog-to-the-top-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=563","title":{"rendered":"From the Underdog to the Top Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We all love rags-to-riches and tragedy-to-triumph stories, right? We\u2019re inspired when someone overcomes overwhelming odds and obstacles to rise to the top. We cheer when an unknown underdog upsets a favored champion. The Bible contains many stories of God using unlikely underdogs to win great victories. \u201cThe Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath\u201d<\/em> (Dt. 28:13, NKJV). Modern translation: \u201cI\u2019ll take you from being the underdog and make you the top dog!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An underdog isa person or team who\nis expected to lose in a contest or conflict. The ancient Israelites were serious\nunderdogs against their nemesis\u2014the Philistines. Backslidden King Saul ignored the\nProphet Samuel. Outnumbered, they had just lost a big battle and morale was low\nin Israel\u2019s army (1 Sam. 13). The Philistines had a big military advantage, but\nIsrael had a spiritual advantage\u2014they served Jehovah God not false idols.\nAgainst all odds, Jonathan and his armor bearer attacked (two against hundreds).\nThere was no way they should have survived much less won this battle. Jonathan\nwas either courageous or crazy or both. He boldly stated, \u201cCome,\nlet us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord\nwill work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few\u201d<\/em> (1 Sam.\n14:6). Israel won a great victory because two\nguys dared to act in faith. God turned the underdogs into top dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By now you\u2019ve heard the amazing story about\nRich Strike, the horse that won the 2022 Kentucky Derby.Do yourself a\nfavor, google it and watch the replay. Rich Strike won a $1.86 million prize. He\nonly got in the race because the 20th horse had to withdraw at the last minute.\nHe started from the worst position on the outside of the track. He maneuvered\nhis way through the field of 19 other horses from the back. His jockey, Sonny\nLeon, had never been to the Kentucky Derby. His trainer, Eric Reed, had never\nraced a horse in the Derby. His owner, Richard Dawson, bought him for $30,000\n(peanuts for racehorses). His odds to win were 80-1. Yet Rich Strike outran\nmillion-dollar steeds to win on the grandest stage. The underdog became the top\ndog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bible records the greatest underdog\nstory in history\u2014David vs. Goliath. Goliath was an oversized ogre at 9 feet, 6\ninches tall! He was so big people thought he couldn\u2019t lose. David thought he\nwas so big he couldn\u2019t miss! Oddly, David brought five rocks to a sword fight. Some\nsay it was extra ammunition in case he missed. Others see it as an act of\nfaith\u2014one stone for Goliath and four for his brothers\/sons he\u2019d fight later (2\nSam. 21:16-18, 1 Chr. 20:4-8). You see, life is a series of battles. You\u2019re\neither in a battle, fresh out of a battle, or about to face another one. David believed\nGod would not only help him bring Goliath down but every other giant he had to face!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Hebrew word for \u201cgiant\u201d is nephil <\/em>(plural\nis nephilim<\/em>) meaning \u201ca bully or a tyrant.\u201d All giants in the Bible were\nenemies of Israel. Goliath was a big bully barking out blasphemy against God\nand terrorizing Israel. Satan is also a bully who tries to intimidate us, but \u201cIf\nGod be for us, who can be against us?\u201d<\/em> (Rom. 8:31) David stunned Goliath\nwith a stone to his skull. Then he took his own sword and decapitated him. With\ntheir champion dead, the Philistines fled. That day the world witnessed God take\nan underdog and make him the top dog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about Gideon\u2019s 300-man, underdog army?The Midianites invaded Israel like a swarm of grasshoppers. God let them\noppress His people for their chronic idolatry. The Israelites survived by\nhiding in caves. The enemy swooped in at harvest time and destroyed their crops\ncausing a dire food shortage. On the brink starvation, Israel desperately cried\nout to God for help. Then God raised up another unlikely underdog to deliver\nthem\u2014Gideon. Hungry and scared, Gideon was hiding behind a wine press threshing\nwheat to make bread when an angel appeared saying, \u201cThe Lord is with you,\nyou mighty man of valor\u201d<\/em> (Jgs. 6:12). Gideon sure didn\u2019t look like a hero;\nhe looked like a wimp, a coward, and a chicken! He made this excuse, \u201cO my\nLord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I\nam the least in my father\u2019s house\u201d<\/em> (Jgs. 6:15). Talk\nabout an underdog, Gideon was a nobody going nowhere. But God saw his\npotential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gideon blew a trumpet to rally the troops\nand 32,000 men showed up. Not bad! However, there were 135,000 Midianites\nsoldiers so they were outnumbered 4-1. God said there were too many men and\nGideon dismissed the fearful. His army shrank by 2\/3rds as 22,000 went home. With\n10,000 men left, they were outnumbered 13-1 and God said, \u201cThe people are\nstill too many.\u201d<\/em> So, God tested them at the water and sent 9,700 more men\nhome leaving a puny, 300-man army. They were outnumbered 450-1. Did someone say\nunderdogs? At God\u2019s order, they sneaked into the Midianite camp at night and\nall 300 men simultaneously blew trumpets, broke clay pitchers, waved torches,\nand shouted, \u201cThe sword of the Lord and of Gideon\u201d<\/em> (Jgs. 7:20). The\nMidianites woke up out of a dead sleep terrified and panicked. In the chaos,\nthey scattered and started slaying each other. Israel miraculously defeated the\nMidianites and God turned a group of underdogs into top dogs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, there is the woman Jesus called a\ndog\u2014the Syrophoenician Woman (Mt. 15:22-28). She begged Jesus to deliver her demonized\ndaughter. At first, Jesus ignored her\u2014\u201cHe answered her not a word.\u201d<\/em> Tough\nluck, lady! The disciples asked Jesus to send her away but she was persistent. \u201cThen\nshe came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.\u201d <\/em>Then Jesus insulted\nher, \u201cIt is not good to take the children\u2019s bread and throw it to the\nlittle dogs<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em> She was Greek (Mk. 7:26) and Gentiles were often called \u201cdogs\u201d\nby Jews. If she was a dog, she must have been a bulldog because she wouldn\u2019t\ntake no for an answer! She humbly replied, \u201cYes, Lord: yet even the little\ndogs <\/strong>eat the crumbs which fall from their masters\u2019 table.\u201d <\/em>Wow! Jesus\nwas so impressed by her response, He said, \u201cO woman, great is your faith!\nLet it be to you as you desire.\u201d<\/em> (Incidentally, the only two people Jesus said had\ngreat faith were both Gentiles, the Centurion and this woman). She was an underdog but when Jesus answered her plea and\ndelivered her daughter, she was a top dog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friend, you may feel like an underdog\ntoday facing overwhelming odds, but God can turn your situation around 180\ndegrees overnight. He promised to \u201c<\/em>make you\nthe head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath.\u201d <\/em>Trust in Him to turn yet another underdog into a top dog. Howl-lelujah!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all love rags-to-riches and tragedy-to-triumph stories, right? We\u2019re inspired when someone overcomes overwhelming odds and obstacles to rise to the top. We cheer when an unknown underdog upsets a favored champion. The Bible contains many stories of God using unlikely underdogs to win great victories. \u201cThe Lord will make you the head and not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":564,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/563\/revisions\/564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}