Gideons doubt

Title: Gideons doubt

Text: Judges 6:17-24;36-40

D.T Conditional faith feeds doubt and anxiety

Introduction: Today we are continuing our series “The call of Gideon.” Two weeks ago we learned that God planned to use Gideon to eliminate the Midianite people, a group of Raiders and Pillagers whoHow many of you can remember a time in school where the teacher calls upon you to answer a question in front of the class? What did you think when the teacher called upon you? Did you enjoy it? Or did you dread it? The answer probably depends on whether or not you answered the question correctly. I never really enjoyed it, especially in math class because I was always supposed to “show my work” being called upon in band wasn’t much fun either. I can still remember the band director calling out to me, Nathan please play the part starting at 63. Why do we dread being called upon in front of the class? Because we don’t want to be wrong! We don’t want to be called out as wrong in front of the class. More importantly we don’t want the teacher to use our wrong answer to teach the rest of the class the right answer. (I.E Class do you want to tell Nathan the right answer?) Being a character in the bible is like being asked to answer a question in front of the class. Sometimes they get the answer wrong, and God uses their wrong answer or response to teach us the right one. So baring that in mind I hope we can be sympathetic with biblical characters, and thankful for their example, both good and bad, because both teach us. I hope we honor their faith. In Today's passage of scripture, Gideon is going to be called upon to answer a question in front of the class. The question is relevant, important, and probably needs to be asked. It deals with a topic which has no doubt been on the minds of several Christians over the years. The question we’ll see asked of Gideon in today's text is this; Is it okay to ask God for a sign?

READ Judges 6:17-24

Judges 6:17–24 ESV

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

If you remember, Gideon has been unsure about God’s plan ever since God told him what it was. Gideon would basically give God a list of reasons why Gideon wasn’t the right man for the Job. Once he realized that God’s mind was set, Gideon would demand a sign before moving forward. Gideon brings out goat meat, unleavened biscuits and broth. The Angel of God instructed Gideon to place the items on a rock. Once Gideon did, the Angel of God would create a fire that consumed the items almost instantly. That should have been it right? Gideon got his sign! Gideon was given physical proof that God was by his side. Surely that would be enough right? It was for a while. God had commanded Gideon to destroy some idols built for Baal. We’ll study Gideons endeavors with the idols to Baal next week. Where I want to focus our attention next is what happens after Gideon is successful in destroying the idols.

READ Judges 6:36-40

Judges 6:36–40 ESV

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Gideon turns around and asks God for another sign. This time it’s with a fleece. Gideon says if I lay this fleece on the threshing floor and the ground is dry and there is dew on the ground, I will know it’s you. The Angel of God accommodates this request. Gideon finds the fleece soaked with dew the next morning. Surely that would be enough right? No. Yet again Gideon looks over the edge of the diving board and begins walking back. He asks God for yet another sign. This time Gideon starts by saying Lord please don’t be mad at me, but can we do this one more time? Gideon knew his faith should be better, he knew he really shouldn’t be asking God for a sign. However he does it anyway. This time Gideon asks for the fleece to dry while the threshing floor is wet with dew. Gideon wakes up the next morning and guess what? The fleece was dry, and there was dew on the ground. The scripture ends here because Gideon finally had what he needed to believe. However there is a lot to learn from Gideon's action in this story

Don’t bet on a miracle How many times have we said or thought to ourselves. If I could only see a sign from God, it would help my faith so much!! If God would let me see a miracle I’d never doubt again. Guess what, Gideon saw his miracle, and it wasn’t enough. Gideon would require seeing 2 more miracles before he was faithful in giving himself over to God’s will. Witnessing a miracle will not buy your absolute trust in God. We often think it will, but Gideon and many others including the disciples of Jesus prove this to us. When it comes down to it, taking that next step to trust God will always be hard, this will be true whether we see a miracle or not. Therefore when taking that step to trust God, we must pray that God gives us the strength to take that step.

God is patient: Notice how the Angel of God is accommodating to Gideons request? Deuteronomy 6:16 says You shall not put the Lord your God to the test. However Gideon does just that. God would have been in his right to pour out his wrath against Gideon. However God shows restraint, and accommodates Gideon. Because he loves Gideon and has a plan for Gideon. If God is patient with Gideon, he will be patient with you

Condition breeds doubt and anxiety Gideon made his doubt known by asking God for a sign. In the New Testament Thomas made his doubt known by refusing to believe without seeing the wounds of Jesus. This establishes a troubling trend we need to be aware of. Conditional faith paves the way for doubt and anxiety. “God if you do this” is a slippery slope that leads to more doubt and demand for proof. If our faith ventures into this territory, we are becoming like an addict. I think we’d all be willing to admit that an addict is not someone in a healthy place in their life. If our faith becomes addicted to needing a sign, it’s not a faith that is healthy. If our faith goes too long without lapsing into needing it’s fix, then it becomes one that is more anxious and doubtful. Because conditional faith paves the way for doubt and anxiety.

Don’t give yourself over to a conditional faith, because a conditional faith is a pathway to doubt, which if left unaddressed leads to unbelief. Trusting God will never be easy, and demanding for a sign will not make it easier. So how do we do it? How do we build a faith which does not need signs or wonders? We build faith in an honest community. What does that mean? We’ll let’s focus on the key words..

Honest We should have an honest faith that admits it’s own struggle. Admit when we are facing doubts and hardships. One of my favorite verses comes out of Mark 9, a father desperate for answers, wanting to believe Jesus can heal his son tells Jesus. I believe, help my unbelief. In other words, I believe in the gospel, but I have a lot of doubts I wrestle with daily.

Community We don’t fight this alone. We be honest with each other as a church, if things aren’t going well, don’t tell people things are going well when asked. Let us help one another bear burdens, let us sharpen each other as Iron sharpens Iron, let us build a faith, which does not require a fleece.