You Were Meant to be Courageous

Scripture Introduction:

As we see throughout Judges, the Children of Israel find themselves in this cycle once again. Once again they have rebelled against God and once again they find themselves under God’s discipline. The tool that is being used this time is a group of people referred to as the Midianites.

The Midianites raided their crops and stole their livestock. They were massive in number and the Bible compares them to locusts who come in and just devour everything in their path.

Judges 6:5 NKJV

For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, coming in as numerous as locusts; both they and their camels were without number; and they would enter the land to destroy it.

In the next verse you see the devastating scenario Israel finds themselves in...

Judges 6:6 NKJV

So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

Once again (as we see in Judges 6:7), God intervenes and before calling a Judge, He calls a prophet. The prophet comes and reminds them why they are in this mess...

Judges 6:8–10 NKJV

that the Lord sent a prophet to the children of Israel, who said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of bondage; and I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. Also I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed My voice.’ ”

Then God proceeds to call an “Unlikely Judge”...

Notice Judges 6:11-12

Judges 6:11–12 NKJV

Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

In this passage I am reminded...

God Sees Who You Can Become

God calls Gideon “a mighty man of valor.” However, at the moment God calls him this he doesn’t appear to be “a mighty man of valor.” He’s not fighting anyone. He’s not going through special forces training. He’s not lifting weights or working out.

He’s doing what farmers do. He’s threshing wheat.

He’s doing what desperate citizens do. He’s hiding the crops from the enemy.

There’s nothing in this scenario that would cause us to think of Gideon as “a mighty man of valor.”

But God sees what we cannot see. God saw what Gideon could not see. God saw Gideon for WHO HE COULD BE.

I know that God sees YOU for what you can be as well. God doesn’t just see you WHERE you are, but God sees WHAT YOU CAN BECOME with His help, His power, and His Word!

As one person noted,

The devil knows your name, but calls you by your sin, God, however, knows your sin, but calls you by your name.

God knows the spouse you can BECOME.

God knows the might man or woman of God you can BECOME.

God knows the victories you can HAVE.

God knows the difficulties you can OVERCOME.

God knows the hope you can HAVE.

God knows the strength you can RELY on.

God doesn’t just know you where you are and your struggles today, BUT GOD KNOWS WHAT YOUR WINS CAN BE TOMORROW!

As someone said:

God equips and empowers us for the tasks He has set before us. Through obedient action, we can experience God's faithfulness and see His purposes fulfilled in our lives.

Surrender YOURSELF completely to God and watch Him do more with you, your life, your talents, and your treasures than you could ever imagine.

Secondly, as we notice Gideon’s reaction we are reminded...

God is not Intimidated by Your Questions (vv. 13-18)

Notice Gideon’s response in Judges 6:13-18

Judges 6:13–18 NKJV

Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me. Do not depart from here, I pray, until I come to You and bring out my offering and set it before You.” And He said, “I will wait until you come back.”

The first question Gideon asks, “WHY?” Why has all this happened?

The second question is, “WHERE?” Where are the miracles?

The third question is, “HOW?” How can I save Israel?

Do you ever have questions for God? I sure do.

You hear well-meaning people say you shouldn’t question God, and I understand what most people mean by that. I understand we shouldn’t question whether God is God, or whether God is sovereign, or whether God knows what He is doing.

But Gideon asked God “WHY?” Jesus asked His Father “WHY?”

It’s OK to ask God “WHY?” He may or may not give you the answer you WANT, you may feel you never get an answer, but our finite minds often ask “WHY?”

God is not INTIMIDATED by your “WHY’s”.

Often bringing our honest questions, and broken hearts to God will open a path for His intervention.

After this discussion Gideon asks the Angel of the Lord to “SHOW HIM A SIGN.” This won’t be the last time Gideon asks for a sign. Notice what transpires next in Judges 6:19-27

Judges 6:19–27 NKJV

So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat, and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and he put the broth in a pot; and he brought them out to Him under the terebinth tree and presented them. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in His hand, and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire rose out of the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it The-Lord-Is-Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.

God is not Deterred by Your Doubts (vv. 19-27, 36-40)

God gave Gideon the sign that he asked for. God could have just walked away from Gideon at this point, but just like last week we find God is kind and merciful and gracious in spite of our fears and doubts.

God knew that Gideon had the potential to be courageous.

Just like last week when we looked at the life of Barak and his need for the security blanket of Deborah we were reminded that COURAGE IS NOT THE ABSENCE OF FEAR. Someone said this about courage:

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the decision to trust God despite our fears.

The courage that Gideon finally found did not come through being proud or cocky, but through being open and honest with God about the things he didn’t understand, the confusion he was experiencing, and the dependence upon the Lord to be sure that he was understanding the assignment, and being sure it was God that had given him the assignment.

JUST LIKE GIDEON FOUND STRENGTH AND COURAGE THROUGH GOD’S SPIRIT, WE NEED TO SEEK THE GUIDANCE AND EMPOWERMENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN EVERY AREA OF OUR LIVES!

Look at what Gideon did and the response in Judges 6:28-35

Judges 6:28–35 NKJV

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.” Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

What was the most important thing to your dad? What was your dad’s idol, or the potential to become his idol?

Was it a sports car?

Was it a particular hunting rifle?

Was it a collection of expensive whiskeys?

Was it a collection of antiques of some kind?

Was it a pile of money he had hidden away?

Was it the home that he worked long hours to purchase?

Was it his bass boat?

Was it a business he started?

Imagine taking whatever was most important to your dad, and God coming to you and telling you...”I want you to burn it down. I want you to destroy it!”

That’s what God told Gideon to do. That was going to take some courage? That took Gideon asking, “God did I understand you correctly? Are you sure?”

Once Gideon clarified it was God’s will, he did what God told him to do. But that was just the beginning of God’s plan for Gideon...

God had told Gideon that he was a mighty man of valor. God had told Gideon that He was going to use Him to deliver Israel. Gideon had to be sure. It wasn’t that he was unwilling, he just wanted to be sure.

And even though he had his doubts GOD WASN’T DETERRED!!

Notice what happens in Judges 6:36-40

Judges 6:36–40 NKJV

So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, 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 the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

.As we close this morning I want to remind you of some important truths we can learn from this part of Gideon’s story:

God Created You with Unbelievable Potential to Impact His Kingdom

You were created in God’s image.

You were knit together in your mother’s womb by your Creator.

Your DNA was stitched together by the Sustainer of the Universe to create you to fulfill His will as only you can!

GOD SEES WHO YOU CAN BECOME WITH HIS HELP AND POWER. DON’T LET YOUR DISOBEDIENCE ROB YOU OF BEING USED BY GOD TO IMPACT THE WORLD THE WAY HE DESIGNED YOU TO!

Don’t be Afraid to ask God the Genuine Questions You Have that are Hindering You From Following Him Wholeheartedly

He already knows your heart and your questions. Go ahead and reverently and respectfully ask Him those questions, but be ready, willing, and obedient to do what you know He wants you to do NOW, and when the answers come.

Be Real About Your Doubts

Even one of Jesus’ disciples who had followed Jesus for 3 1/2 years, one who was an eyewitness to Jesus’ miracles firsthand…had doubts about Jesus’ resurrection…and he’s gotten the nickname “Doubting Thomas.”

Even John the Baptist, the greatest man who every lived besides the God-man, struggled with some doubts.

You are going to struggle with doubts too, but God can help you through your doubts! Lean on Him, lean into Him, depend upon Him and His words and you will find the doubts will begin to dissipate as you get to know Him more!