Useful Imperfections

Intro: When I finished my Senior year of High School, I was already looking to figure out what I was going to do for college. I knew I wanted to go to college, but not just any college; I wanted a Biblical, God-centered atmosphere where I could deepen my relationship with God, growing in my knowledge of who He is, and grow life-long, godly friendships. I knew that God was leading me in this general direction because I wasn’t being filled as much spiritually at home as I needed to be. I could only grow so much, but I didn’t have many godly influences and support around me to really hold a firm foundation in my faith. I was depressed because of the lack of guidance and encouragement from my friends around me. So when it came to figuring out which college I wanted to attend, I had a few options I was looking at, and KMBC was one of them. Overtime, God assured me time and time again that KMBC is where He wanted me to go, and even then, I had doubts. I questioned if that was God’s calling and plan for me. And each time, He assured me with more peace and led me to where I am today. God’s calling wasn’t primarily just for me to go to KMBC though. God has been ultimately calling me to spread the Gospel to the world, being bold for Him, and being a living testimony of His goodness. Why? Because I’m an imperfect person, with many flaws.

Transition: How can a perfect God use imperfect people? Despite the fact that we all have our own struggles and weaknesses, God has shown countless times that He is willing and able to work through our weakness to accomplish His plans and show us we can be dependent on Him where we are lacking. An example we’re going to look at is found in Judges. God called Gideon to free Israel from their captivity and despair from the Midianites, and Gideon was in no ways a perfect person. As we will read, Gideon was–according to how the world judges–the last person to be expected to accomplish something great for God’s glory. Gideon provides us with 3 examples to show us our imperfections don’t disqualify us from God’s use.

(Give a recap of how Midian has tortured Israel, then read Judges 6:7-16)

Judges 6:7–16 NLT

When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land. I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.” Then the angel of the Lord came and sat beneath the great tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash of the clan of Abiezer. Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” “Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”

Gideon struggled with doubts

When God called Gideon to be the judge for Israel, Gideon reacted as many of us would probably react: he initially doubts God in the 2 questions.

Questioning God’s faithfulness (6:13)

Gideon actually asks two questions that can be summed up to doubting God’s faithfulness through His presence and actions. Gideon doesn’t have much faith at first due to not seeing God working as He has with Gideon’s ancestors.

One of the biggest questions most unbelievers (and even believers) ask is where is God if all these bad things in the world are happening. Although we don’t have a definite answer for this question, we know that it can be easy to look past the great things that God has done when we are naturally inclined to focus on the bad things that happen.

Questioning God’s judgment (6:15)

Gideon doubts here that God could even use him as a means to save his Nation, because Gideon focuses so much on his status in society.

We often let our status in life become the leading factor of whether we can accomplish anything big in life, but God doesn’t see our role as a determining factor that will qualify us to do what He wants to get done, as long as we are willing to follow His will.

Transition: Despite Gideon’s questions, God still had a plan, and didn’t take into consideration Gideon’s status or faith in Him. God was going to honor Israel’s cry for help, and He was going to use Gideon to save them. But even with God telling Gideon what He was going to use him for; we get our second example of just how Gideon’s imperfections didn’t disqualify Him from God’s plan. (read Judges 6:17-21, and 33-40)

Judges 6:17–21 NLT

Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.” He answered, “I will stay here until you return.” Gideon hurried home. He cooked a young goat, and with a basket of flour he baked some bread without yeast. Then, carrying the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, he brought them out and presented them to the angel, who was under the great tree. The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.

Judges 6:33–40 (NLT)

Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon with power. He blew a ram’s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him. He also sent messengers throughout Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, summoning their warriors, and all of them responded.

Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.

Gideon needed constant assurance

When God called me to come to KMBC after seeking His will, there were a few times after that calling that I needed assurance that KMBC was still where God called me to. We can relate to Gideon in the stance that even though God told him that he’d be used to save Israel, he still needed assurance from God.

Assurance of God’s help (6:17-21)

After God told Gideon that He will be with him as he destroys the Midianites, Gideon needed assurance that this was really God who was calling him. He asked God to give him a sign through an offering.

We often will face circumstances that God promises to be with us in, and that He will help us in those places, but still need the assurance that God will truly help us. God doesn’t change His mind about being with us simply because we ask for assurance, if we really are seeking to obey God, He will make it known that He will be with us.

Assurance of God’s calling (6:36-40)

Even with the assurance God gave to Gideon through the offering, Gideon still needed not one, but two tests to be certain this was God’s calling and not Gideon’s own ambition.

Sometimes we aren’t sure how to tell whether we are pursuing something that God has called us to or what we believe to be. Even here, God shows patience towards Gideon with both requests that Gideon makes even after all the doubts Gideon has already had. We can rest assured through this that sometimes making a deal with God isn’t wrong when we are trying to follow His calling. God will make it clear to us in a way we will know.

Transition: With all the doubts and tests, Gideon finally trusted that God was going to keep His promise and use him to save Israel. We can find comfort and encouragement in seeing that God never got upset or lost His patience with Gideon even when he was fearful, doubtful, and challenging God multiple times to make sure God was going to keep His promise. But even through all of this, the choice still needs to be made to trust and follow God’s plan after He’s assured us of where He’s leading.

Gideon submitted to God’s plan

After testing God to see if He would keep His promise, Gideon prepared an army that was willing to go against the Midianites. But there were a few rewards to be gained from the Midianite’s defeat. God wanted Israel to understand a couple factors so that they would learn not to fall away from Him again.

To bring Himself glory (7:1-6)

Judges 7:1–6 NLT

So Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, ‘Whoever is timid or afraid may leave this mountain and go home.’ ” So 22,000 of them went home, leaving only 10,000 who were willing to fight. But the Lord told Gideon, “There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will test them to determine who will go with you and who will not.” When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the Lord told him, “Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.” Only 300 of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream.

God wanted Israel to understand that they were only going to be able to defeat Midian and their allies through His strength, so God put the army Gideon had gathered through His own tests to bring their number down to what seemed to be an impossible win.

God brought Gideon’s army from 22,000 to 300 because He wanted them to understand that He was the reason they’d beat Midian, and therefore, He would get the glory, not themselves.

When we follow God’s plan for our lives, sometimes it seems that there’s no way we could accomplish what He asks of us, but this is where depending on Him comes in. God will use seemingly impossible circumstances to show us our need for Him so that we know He alone is the reason we’ll get through them, and therefore, He alone gets the glory.

To bring Israel victory (7:7, 16-22)

Judges 7:7 NLT

The Lord told Gideon, “With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.”

Judges 7:16–22 NLT

He divided the 300 men into three groups and gave each man a ram’s horn and a clay jar with a torch in it. Then he said to them, “Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do. As soon as I and those with me blow the rams’ horns, blow your horns, too, all around the entire camp, and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’ ” It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the 100 men with him reached the edge of the Midianite camp. Suddenly, they blew the rams’ horns and broke their clay jars. Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands, and they all shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran to escape. When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.

God used the 300 men left in Gideon’s army to defeat the Midianite army of 135,000 men, not even using swords and weapons, but clay jars, torches, and ram’s horns. God did this to keep His promise of delivering Israel from their despair.

When God calls for us to follow His plans, He is faithful to keep that which He has promised us. Sometimes we don’t know what God’s plan involves, but we do know He is faithful to be with us, to lead us through them, and to know that one day we will inherit our reward with Him in eternity, let alone the blessings He gives us here.

Conclusion: Gideon is just one of many, many examples of imperfect people being used by God and in miraculous ways for His glory. We have our weaknesses and flaws, but God knows how to use them, and use us, especially in our lowest, to see His power work through us. I for one am also an example of an imperfect person being used for God’s glory. I haven’t honored God my whole life. I’ve sought out my selfish desires, disobeyed Him, turned away, and messed up more times than I can count. Yet God still uses me for His glory. He is the only one that can take my failures and defeats, and turn them around for a testimony to display how loving, merciful, and powerful God really is. You are also an example. All of us are. How encouraging is it to know that even when we go through despair and dark seasons of life, where the world would reject and count us worthless, that God still reaches out and uses us; that He still has plans and callings for us. It’s often when we are in a place where we can’t do anything by our power that God’s hand becomes more evident when we depend on Him, and through this, we can be thankful to be reminded that it’s only through God that we can walk through these circumstances.