Hard Love #1 - Gideon

Judges 7:16-22

FINAL Series Intro: There’s a song that hit Christian radio a few years back entitled hard love. The chorus of the song has the following lyrics. Hold on tight a little longer, What don't kill ya, makes ya stronger, Get back up, 'cause it's a hard love. Hard love is an idea that I thought we might explore over the next few weeks as we consider the way God worked in the life of four different individuals in scripture who were asked to follow Him in ways that were nothing short of difficult… This morning will we start the series with a look at the story of Gideon. Our goal today will be to understand that…

God does not call us to comfort. He calls us to combat. 5X

ME: In 2010 I led about 30 members of a church through a study of John Maxwell’s book called Put your dream to the test. I personally, really got into the study and developed a dream map for myself that involved financial goals, educational goals, ministry goals, and family goals. I don’t think anyone would have thought my goals to be problematic. They involved ideas such as how we might raise our kids, becoming debt free, and furthering my education in ministry. But in the last 12 years I could cite at least 3 distinctive moves that God asked me to make that would not necessarily jive with my dream map. Each time I remember saying to God, I’m not sure how this is going to help me move forward with my plan for my life, to which He replied, which would you rather have? Do you want YOUR plan for your life, or do you want MY plan for your life? His thoughts for my life were bigger than mine. He called me into positions that I didn’t know existed, and to cities that I had never heard of.

WE: I’m not saying planning is bad, In fact in Luke 14 Jesus poses a couple questions such as who builds a building without making sure they have enough money to finish it, and who goes into a battle with only 10,000 men to battle against an army of 20,000. The fact that Jesus said this will make for an interesting connection as we get into our story today. Even though God would ask Gideon to go to battle with 300, until he heard otherwise Gideon was doing the right thing by going in with 32,000 men ready. There’s nothing wrong with following Dave Ramsey for financial peace, or Andy Stanley on how to have an irresistible ministry, you can consult with focus on the family on how to raise your children or invest with Charles Schwab so they can help you own your tomorrow, but we can’t forget that in the midst of our agendas, plans, and ideals about how things should work we must be ever ready to move in obedience when the Spirit calls for a re-direct. Ultimately, God does not have an issue with our planning. What God may have an issue with is the possessiveness or control of our plans.

GOD: Let’s look into our story with a goal of recognizing that God does not call us to comfort. He calls us to combat. Judges chapter 6 starts off with a familiar but unfortunate phrase… “Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord.” We see this phrase at least a dozen times in the Old Testament, and each time it is unpleasantly followed by consequences that were less than pleasant for the people. In this case the Israelites were overcome by the armies of Midian for 7 years. Then we read in verse 7 of chapter 6 that Israel cried out the Lord, the Lord heard their cry, and sent an angel to meet with a man name Gideon. The Angel tells Gideon that He was to lead the people of Israel against Midian. Before Gideon would move forward with the mission the Angel of the Lord told Gideon to tear down the idols to Baal that had been set up for the people, after that we see that the spirit of Lord came upon Gideon. With that you might note that before God uses us we have to clean up our house. Private faithfulness and holiness are a prerequisite to public usefulness (REPEAT) GIDEON TESTS GOD: Wet fleece, dry ground, wet ground, dry fleece. Gideon then assembled 32,000 for battle. But God told Gideon to thin the herd, because with this many warriors Israel may win on their own and take the credit. So Gideon was instructed to send home everyone who was afraid, 22,000 went home, and 10,000 now remained. God said this is still too many, so they had a water drinking contest and only 300 kept watch while they got a drink, and God said to Gideon this is now your army. From 32,000 to 300. From there let’s pick up the text in Judges 7:16.

Judges 7:16-22 16 He divided the 300 men into three companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers.

17 He said to them, "Look at me and do likewise. And behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 "When I and all who are with me blow the trumpet, then you also blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.'" 19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 When the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and cried, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" 21 Each stood in his place around the camp; and all the army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When they blew 300 trumpets, the LORD set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole army;

PRAYER

God does not call us to comfort. He calls us to combat.

Evil in his sight, 7 years of midian oppression, Gideon meets an angel, Gideon tests God, God says I passed your silly little test, you are going to have to trust me more than a wet blanket on some dry ground. Whittle your army of 32,000 down to 300, and watch what happens when you trust in me more than your own wisdom and power.

YOU: Gideon was a warrior. He knew about warfare. I’m going to prove to you that you might know a little more about warfare than you might realize. Here’s a war strategy question for you, and I will bet all of you can get it right, ready? If you go into battle with an enemy, do you want to have more people, or less people in your army? Wait, what, you want to have more? We all agree with that? I mean warfare 101 right, more troops=better chance for victory. Yet God tells Gideon to reduce the troops because they are a prideful people that have done evil in my sight, and now as I bring victory into their life, I want to make sure that they have no choice but to give all the glory to me. Here’s the bottom line... Combat is not comfortable, so we can’t pretend we want a piece of the action, while we remain in our comfort zones. God is revealing an area of your life where you need to reduce the troops. Stop fighting with God about what you know, what you have, or what you are capable of, and submit to God’s plan for your life that might not make sense to anyone else in the world.

COMFORT VS COMBAT – This combat vs comfort tension is no small thing. This is why before Gideon could lead the battle for the Lord, he was commanded to tear down the altars to baal. Though they were under Midian oppression, and had altars set up to other gods they still believed they were God’s people. This language or cultural idea of altar building or baals may be lost on us so let me share with you what this looks like today. We become Christians, we say we are God’s people, and then slowly but surely we let culture around us present ideas to us that take up our time and energy. We read our Bible for 5 minutes before we spend inordinate amounts of time in careers or hobbies and say the Lord’s prayer before we watch a sporting event for 3 hours. We spend time all week chasing other things, lesser goals, things that appease the flesh, then we walk into places of worship like this and lift forms of worship that are perhaps nothing more than just an emotional outburst. We will attach His name to it, but if the baals remain, if we keep needing that security that comes from what the world says we need to have, it’s tainted worship. Perhaps the only sin we could commit that would be greater than worshipping false gods would be offering up a false worship to a real God. (REPEAT)

Authentic worship to a holy God pushes back the darkness in the heavenlies. Your prayers that are offered up from a broken spirit are breaking the strongholds that are binding those who have no more strength to fight. Your bold move of faith that makes sense to no one else will release the blessings of God upon your life, upon your ministry, and upon your family.

God does not call us to comfort. He calls us to combat

INVITE PRAISE TEAM

WE: How do we respond then? Dr. Busic – We need to be more afraid of eternal failure than temporal risk. (REPEAT) Ultimately, I think too much of what we work for in life is to work towards comfort. While financial stability, relational congruency, and enjoying a little R&R are far from sinful, the day we stop fighting is the day we start dying. Let’s stop trying to over rationalize God. In this life God may need to diminish your confidence in yourself, until your confidence lies fully in him.

Stop asking for wet or dry blankets and recognize that if you are called by His name that He will use you for His glory. 1 Samuel 12:22 says "For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. They blew the trumpets(worship), broke the pitchers(Brokenness as a picture of surrender), and screamed out to proclaim that they were for the Lord(Gave God the glory). When you are on the side of the Lord, victory is the only possible outcome. When you think you can’t win, He says you won’t lose.

God does not call us to comfort. He calls us to combat. Which path will you choose today?