Called Even When You Feel Small

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, my young warriors!

Before we open God's Word today, I want to ask you a question.

Has anybody here ever been picked last for something?

Maybe it was a team in gym class.

Maybe it was a group project.

Maybe somebody looked at you and said,

"Nah, not them."

And when they finally called your name, you felt so small.

You felt like maybe you weren't good enough.

Maybe you weren't strong enough.

Maybe you weren't smart enough.

Maybe you weren't ENOUGH.

Well, I came to tell you something this morning that's going to change your whole week!

What people say about you is NOT what God says about you!

Let me say that again for the people in the back!

What your classmates say about you is NOT what the Creator of the universe says about you!

ILLUSTRATION: PICKED LAST, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Let me tell you a quick story.

There was a kid named Marcus.

Marcus wasn't the tallest kid in his class.

He wasn't the fastest.

When they picked teams for soccer at recess, Marcus was ALWAYS picked last.

Every. Single. Time.

The other kids would look past him like he was invisible.

One day, Marcus got picked last again.

He walked onto the field with his head hanging low.

But something was different that day.

His teacher had told him that morning, "Marcus, I believe in you."

Those words stuck in his heart.

The game started, and Marcus played his heart out.

Not because he suddenly got taller.

Not because he suddenly got faster.

But because SOMEBODY believed in him!

And in the final seconds of the game, the ball rolled right to Marcus's feet.

He kicked it with everything he had—

AND IT WENT IN!

THE WINNING GOAL!

The same kid they picked LAST scored the winning goal!

Why?

Because being picked last doesn't mean you're worth less!

It just means God saved the best for last!

Now, young people, I need you to turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Judges, chapter 6.

Because God is about to show us a young man who felt JUST like Marcus.

A young man who felt small.

A young man who felt weak.

A young man who was HIDING.

But God saw something different!

Bible Passage

JUDGES 6:11-16

Judges 6:11–16 CSB

The angel of the Lord came, and he sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.” Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!” He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.” “But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

CONTEXT: THE SITUATION OF GOD'S PEOPLE

Now, allow me to break this story down for you all this morning

The people of Israel were in BIG trouble.

They had forgotten about God.

They stopped praying.

They stopped obeying.

They stopped trusting.

And when you forget about God, you become an easy target for the enemy!

So God allowed a nation called the Midianites to come and bother them.

And when I say bother, I mean BOTHER!

The Midianites were like bullies—but worse!

Every time the Israelites would plant crops and grow food, the Midianites would swoop in like locusts and TAKE everything!

They took their wheat.

They took their animals.

They took their peace.

The Israelites were so scared, they had to hide in caves and mountains just to survive!

Can you imagine being so afraid that you had to hide just to eat your lunch?

That's how bad it was!

POINT 1: GIDEON WAS HIDING—BUT GOD WAS SEEKING

Now, here's where our hero comes in.

Well... he doesn't LOOK like a hero yet.

The Bible says Gideon was threshing wheat by the WINEPRESS.

Now, let me explain why that's a big deal.

Normally, you thresh wheat out in the OPEN

You would do this on a big threshing floor where the wind can blow away the stuff you don't need.

But Gideon wasn't threshing wheat in the open.

He was doing it DOWN in a winepress

& a winepress was a pit in the ground!

Why?

Because Gideon was HIDING!

He was scared the Midianites would see him and take his food.

So there's Gideon

hiding in a hole,

scared,

trying to survive.

He's not standing on a mountain.

He's not leading an army.

He's not flexing his muscles.

He's hiding in a pit, hoping nobody notices him!

But watch this—

While Gideon was hiding FROM the enemy,

God was coming TO Gideon!

You see, you might be hiding today.

Maybe you're hiding your talents because you're scared people will laugh at you.

Maybe you're hiding your faith because you don't want to be different.

Maybe you're hiding your dreams because somebody told you they were too big.

But I came to tell you

God knows where you're hiding, and He's coming to find you!

POINT 2: GOD CALLED HIM WHAT HE COULDN'T SEE

Now watch what happens next!

An angel of the Lord shows up and says something CRAZY to Gideon.

Judges 6:12 CSB

Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, valiant warrior.”

Wait, wait, wait!

Did the angel have the wrong address?

Did he get confused?

Because this is GIDEON—the guy hiding in a pit!

This is Gideon—the scared one!

This is Gideon,

the one from the poorest family!

And the angel calls him a Valiant Warrior?

That means a mighty WARRIOR!

A champion!

A hero!

God called Gideon what Gideon couldn't see in himself!

Let me tell you something powerful, young people:

God doesn't call you by your circumstances

He calls you by your DESTINY!

Gideon was hiding,

but God called him mighty!

Gideon was scared,

but God called him a warrior!

Gideon was weak,

but God saw strength!

God sees the warrior in you even when you only see weakness! (x2)

POINT 3: GIDEON'S EXCUSES—AND GOD'S ANSWERS

Now, Gideon did what a lot of us do.

He started making EXCUSES!

Judges 6:13 CSB

Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the Lord brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.”

Gideon said, "If God is with us, why are things so bad?"

Have you ever felt like that?

"If God loves me, why did my parents get divorced?"

"If God is real, why did I fail that test?"

"If God cares about me, why do I feel so alone?"

Gideon had questions.

And guess what?

It's okay to have questions

God is big enough to handle them!

But then God said something in verse 14 that changed everything:

Judges 6:14 CSB

The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending you!”

God said, "I'm SENDING you, Gideon!"

But Gideon kept making excuses.

Judges 6:15 CSB

He said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s family.”

Gideon said, "My family is the weakest family!"

"And I'm the weakest person in my weak family!"

"I'm the least of the least!"

"I'm the bottom of the bottom!"

Gideon was saying, "God, you've got the wrong person!"

But God doesn't make mistakes!

Judges 6:16 CSB

“But I will be with you,” the Lord said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”

God didn't say, "Gideon, you're right, let me find someone else."

God said, "I WILL BE WITH YOU!"

Your ability doesn't matter when you have God's PRESENCE!

Your strength doesn't matter when you have God's POWER!

Your family name doesn't matter when you have God's PROMISE!

POINT 4: GOD USES THE UNLIKELY

Here's something I want you to understand, Brooklyn School family.

This is how God has ALWAYS worked!

God chose Moses who had a stuttering problem to speak to Pharaoh.

God chose David who was the youngest and smallest to defeat a giant.

God chose Esther who was an orphan to save a nation.

God chose Mary who was a simple teenage girl to carry the Savior of the world!

God LOVES to use people that the world overlooks!

Why?

So that when the victory comes,

NOBODY can take the credit but GOD!

You see, in the Great Controversy between good and evil, God is proving something to the whole universe.

He's proving that His power is made PERFECT in our weakness!

He's proving that it's not by might, nor by power, but by HIS SPIRIT!

When God uses the small,

He gets the glory!

When God uses the weak,

He shows His strength!

When God uses the scared,

He displays His courage!

POINT 5: YOU ARE ARMED AND READY

This week, our theme is "United in Christ: Armed and Ready."

And I want you to know something:

You are already armed with everything you need!

You might not feel like it.

You might feel small.

You might feel scared.

You might feel like you're hiding in a winepress just like Gideon.

But when God calls you, He EQUIPS you!

When God sends you, He PREPARES you!

When God chooses you, He ARMS you!

You've got the armor of God!

You've got the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God!

You've got the shield of faith!

You've got the helmet of salvation!

You are not defenseless

you are DANGEROUS to the enemy!

When the devil sees you coming, he should be shaking!

Not because of who YOU are—

But because of who GOD IS in you!

APPLICATION AND CHALLENGE

So here's what I want you to do this week, Mighty Warriors.

Every morning when you wake up, I want you to look in the mirror and say affirmations like:

"God sees a warrior when He looks at me!"

"I am not what people say about me

I am what GOD says about me!"

"I might feel small,

but I serve a BIG God!"

"I am called,

I am chosen,

I am armed,

and I am READY!"

When you walk into school tomorrow,

don't walk in with your head down.

Walk in like somebody who knows that the Creator of the universe is WITH you!

When you feel like you're not smart enough,

remember, God's wisdom is in you!

When you feel like you're not strong enough,

remember, God's strength is in you!

When you feel like you're not good enough,

remember, Jesus was GOOD ENOUGH for you!

What God says about you is the FINAL word!

CLOSING

Now listen, family—this is just DAY ONE!

We're just getting started!

This week, we're going to follow Gideon's journey.

We're going to see how God took this scared, hiding young man and turned him into a MIGHTY WARRIOR!

We're going to see how God uses UNLIKELY people to do UNSTOPPABLE things!

But it all starts HERE.

It starts with BELIEVING what God says about YOU.

Not what the bully says.

Not what social media says.

Not what your fears say.

BUT WHAT GOD SAYS!

Closing

So I want to ask you today—

Is there anybody in here who has been feeling small?

Is there anybody who has been feeling weak?

Is there anybody who has been hiding?

Well, the angel of the Lord is HERE this morning!

And He's calling you MIGHTY!

He's calling you a WARRIOR!

He's calling you CHOSEN!

He's calling you CALLED!

God sees what you cannot see!

God knows what you cannot know!

God is doing what you cannot do!

You might be in the winepress right now—

But you won't be there for long!

You might feel like the least—

But God is about to make you GREAT!

You might feel like you're picked last—

But God picked you FIRST before the foundation of the world!

So Stand up, young warrior!

Lift your head, mighty one!

You are called even when you feel small!

You are chosen even when you feel overlooked!

You are armed even when you feel defenseless!

And you are READY?

Because GOD is with you!

You are called,

Even when you feel small!

Let us pray...

Father God, thank You for every young warrior in this room.

Thank You that You see strength where they see weakness.

You see champions where they may see cowards.

You see victors where they may see victims.

Help them to believe what YOU say about them.

Go with them this week.

Arm them with Your Word.

Fill them with Your Spirit.

And let them walk in the calling You have placed on their lives.

In Jesus' mighty name, AMEN!

See you tomorrow for Day 2!