Gideon

Life has plenty of things to be afraid of, hasn't it?

There are plenty of things that cause us to fear.

Today, we're going to talk about overcoming fear with strong eyes of faith.

We've looked at Moses' strong eyes, and David's strong eyes, and Daniel's strong eyes, and today, we're going to look at how Gideon overcame fear, and grew strong eyes by observing God's strong eyes.

Today is a little bit of a shift.

We're actually going to think about how does God see things?

And I think you might agree, it's really a key to overcoming fear, seeing a different perspective.

How is God seeing this?

Because often the things that we're afraid of, God is not holding any fear, and so if we can see with his eyes, that will change things.

Let me have a little bit of fun.

They're not too much, because if this is one of your fears, I don't want to make fun of you.

But before we give the answer, what is glossophobia?

Anybody know what glossophobia is?

Yell it out if you know.

Fear of public speaking, yes.

Fear of public speaking.

Oblutophobia.

Yes, very well done.

Fear of washing or bathing.

Bromidrosophobia.

Sandra?

Fear of body smells.

Many of us have that, I think.

Didescalinophobia.

Wow, this has not been taught enough in our schools.

It's the fear of going to school.

You would have that fear if you got to school, and they said, spell your fear.

Last one, homilophobia.

I hope you don't have that right now.

It's the fear of sermons.

The Bible says, 2nd Timothy 1, 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind.

Gideon was a man who knew all about fear.

Strong eyes of faith help us deal with fear.

And we need to remember this morning, I hope you can be encouraged by this.

Fear, courage is not the absence of fear.

Amen?

Life will bring, it must, it will bring aspects that we need to deal with, events, all sorts of things are going to happen that will produce fear in us, but we need to manage that fear.

And considering how God sees, I think can help us in dealing with our fears.

So what is God seeing that we're not seeing?

Today, we are hopeful to see from this story of Gideon that God sees our identity when we don't.

God sees our growing maturity when we don't.

And God sees his own sovereignty when we don't.

Gideon lived somewhere around 1100 BC.

So 3000 years ago, in the Book of Judges, we read that Gideon was scared to death of a group of people known as the Midianites.

Now, we pick up the story in Judges, Chapter 6, Verse 1.

Again, the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years, he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.

Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves, and strongholds.

The Israelites are living in fear of the Midianites.

Now, there's a reason for this.

If we go back 200 years, we find the reason.

It's in Numbers 31, Chapter 31, Verses 1 and 2.

The Lord speaks to Moses and says, Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel.

Afterward, you shall be gathered to your people.

And then Numbers 31 gives a graphic and really, truly horrific in detail account of what the Israelites did meeting out God's judgment in holy war against the Midianites.

It's pretty awful stuff.

It's an example of holy war that is hard to get your head around.

So 200 years later, the tables have turned, and the Midianites have a real vengeance in their sight.

They are trying to take revenge on Israel.

So Judges 6, 4 to 6 tells us that the Midianites, they ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel.

Neither sheep, nor cattle, nor donkeys.

It was impossible to count the men and their camels.

Israel are being ravaged from north to south across their land.

And then along comes Gideon, chapter 6 of Judges, verse 11.

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ofra that belonged to Joash the Abbezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites.

Gideon is a young farmer.

He's threshing wheat, but not up on top of the hill in the breeze where you'd expect that he would be doing it.

He's sort of shaking in his boots.

He's scared to death that the Midianites are going to come kill him and steal his wheat.

And then in this context, Judges 6-12 says, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

He remembers the story.

God has strong eyes.

God sees Gideon's identity.

And we have to be careful when we read the Old Testament.

We want to see what God is doing first.

We want to see what the context is, what the character is experiencing, what we're meant to learn from that.

But, you know, we are allowed to draw some level of bow to our life today and find a level of application.

So I think the application for us that we find here is, God sees the you in you that you didn't know was in you.

That's the true statement, is it or not?

God has strong eyes.

He sees Gideon's identity before Gideon knew what his identity could be.

And the same is true for us.

It does sound ridiculous though.

The angel of the Lord calls Gideon a mighty warrior.

A mighty man of valor, other translations say.

Well, he's not, he's a farm boy.

He's not a warrior at all.

It's actually false, what's being said.

Unless he's talking about potential.

This young man is hiding.

He is afraid.

Yet the Lord says through the angel, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

God sees the you in you that you don't know is in you.

Do you believe that?

Do you believe that?

Not many people saw it.

I believe it was an offcut from another artist, a big five metre plus piece of marble in Florence or around there.

And an artist by the name of Michelangelo said, I'll take that offcut because he could see inside this just offcut of marble, the David.

Has anyone been to Florence and seen the David?

I think there's a picture of it, part of it.

We, Leanne and I, were there a few years ago, and we were really looking forward to seeing the statue of David, but probably not as much as we should have been looking forward to it.

Because when we came down the end of that hallway and then saw it, we were looking at all these other statues along, and then we looked up and went, wow.

It's like, I don't know, there's a charisma that comes out of the David, but I mention it because it's magnificent, like you.

Is that too cheesy to say?

You're magnificent, and so am I.

Because God made us in His image, amen?

You are truly magnificent, made by the hands of God.

Sometimes that's hard for us to accept.

God sees the you in you that you don't know is in you.

It's certainly what we see when Jesus, after He's risen from the dead, He's on the beach cooking fish for the disciples, and Peter comes over and his proverbial tail is between his legs, thinking, I'm pretty ashamed to come up to you, Lord, but you're thrilling my heart to see you alive.

And Jesus sees the Peter in him that Peter didn't know was there.

The leader, the teacher, the guy that preaches the sermon that 3,000 people get saved through after Pentecost.

And Jesus just looks at him like Michelangelo looking at the David in that block of marble, and he says, do you love me, Peter?

Look after my lambs.

Be a shepherd leader.

Step up again.

I'm having trouble with this microphone.

Our lives are framed up by feedback loops.

Have you noticed that?

Parents do the best job they can, but sometimes they make us feel like we're a little bit broken.

If you've had great encouraging parents, like I did, then you've got a head start in life.

Many of us don't.

In fact, it starts, let's be honest, it starts from the pram when you're looking out of the pram.

People come up without knowing it, and they tell you whether you're cute or not.

Sociologists have actually studied this stuff, and they go, it's true.

Cute little babies grow up with better self-esteem.

And there's this feedback loop, it's constant.

We're told as children, as teenagers, whether we cut it or not, whether we're good enough.

And, you know, as I speak, it starts to cause some pain for some of us sitting here.

So I'm sorry about that, you know, throwing this on you, but it's hard, isn't it?

The messages that we receive in life about who we are.

And it causes a lot of pain.

And it sort of leads us to make some silly decisions along the way, often.

God sees what could be, amen?

And certainly, you need the grace of Jesus.

You need faith in Christ to be called a child of God, to have your sins washed away, and then real potential starts to open up.

I think that's the caveat that needs to be said.

Every human has potential, but in Christ, it's through the roof, because Christ has paid for our sin.

Curiously, for many of us, maybe all of us, when God communicates to us that we matter, maybe even a hint of a dream for our life, some thought of what we might do with this one only life that we have, we respond with, I'm not sure that I could be that person, or I'm not sure I can trust you.

Judges 6 is Gideon's response, but Sir Gideon replied, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?

But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.

Insecurity number one, when God comes and says, you know, I see something in you that you don't see, I see an identity that I could shape in fashion and take somewhere for my glory, we tend to go, I don't know if I can trust you.

That's sort of a typical human insecurity.

God can't be trusted, it's what Gideon is basically saying.

Where were you, God?

When we've been really treated so terribly by the Midianites, why are you letting this happen?

It sounds a lot like the devil to me, doesn't it to you?

The devil tends to come and say, you can't trust God.

Can you trust him?

Insecurity number two, when we get a hint of a different identity, tends to be, I'm not good enough.

Judges 6-15, Gideon says, how can I save Israel?

My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family.

I'm not good enough.

Sounds a lot like Moses a few weeks ago.

I can't do this thing that you're calling me to do.

How can I save Israel?

You call me a mighty warrior, but we all know that's just not true.

Who can relate to Gideon?

A few hands.

I don't know about you.

Maybe you're a person that is well used by God now in your life.

Maybe you're a leader.

Maybe you're very capable.

Maybe you feel that.

And maybe, like a lot of people, you're a school captain as well.

Primary school.

You're an athlete.

You're a champion.

And in high school, it was the same for you.

It wasn't for me.

It wasn't for me.

I used to be quite shy.

It's funny because I've spent most of my adult life in Christian leadership in the local church.

But when I look back on my life, I was very shy, and I used to have this vivid memory of hiding under the table in sharing time at kindergarten.

And I remember thinking, I can honestly remember going, I don't know why that teacher can't see me, but obviously she can't.

And then one day she came and said, Jonathan, do you want to come out?

But I used to hide.

I don't remember putting myself forward for leadership opportunities in primary school and high school.

And one day, there was, I don't know, 800 people in the school hall, and I was the front singer in a rock band in year 12.

And I was singing out the front in my music class, and my parents fell off their chair.

What's he doing up there?

So I can relate to the growing sense of call that you can experience, but also this sense of, I don't know if I could do this, this sort of imposter syndrome.

Can I really trust God's character?

And you know what, I'm not good enough, but the scripture says to us, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power of love and a sound mind.

God loves to take unsure, insecure, and fearful people and do something only He could do through them.

I hope you can hear that today.

He does, he loves to do it.

God sees our identity before we do.

And God sees our growing maturity when we don't, and that's what he was seeing in Gideon.

God sees when we're being stretched by obeying in the small things, and he sees our faith muscle being strengthened when we don't.

Judges 6-4, the Lord turned to Gideon and said, go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hands.

And I'm not, am I not sending you?

And in verse 16, I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites together.

God has an enormous job for Gideon to do.

But what's interesting is, typically, God doesn't throw Gideon into that challenge immediately.

There's a maturing process.

There's this opportunity to be obedient in smaller things.

So the first thing God asked Gideon to do is risky.

You might learn the story.

Have a look if you haven't.

It's verse 25 to 32.

God tells Gideon to rip down his father's altar to Baal.

The father, like the town's folk, have been assimilated and syncretised into the surrounding nations, their religion.

And so they're using phallic symbols, asherah poles, to garner the favour of the gods for fertility on the crops, which is terrible for the Israelites to do.

And God is bringing judgment, and He's saying to Gideon, pull them down.

In fact, take the wood and build an altar, put a bull on it and worship me with it.

So it's a tough, tough thing for him to do.

It's not as tough as taking on the Midianites.

But so Gideon does it, and he's obedient on the backstage.

The following morning, when the men of the town wake up, they want to basically kill Gideon.

Wisely, his father says to them, if Baal is God, let him deal with Gideon, and he's not God, and so nothing happens.

God is faithful.

The testimony of Christian witness is typically that God's strength is displayed through weakness.

Would you agree?

Unfortunately, that's the pattern all the way through.

And the other thing is, he does tend time and time again to give his people a challenge that is smaller than the challenge they're being prepared for.

That's just his style.

When he asks us to step up, it's along the lines of what Jesus says in Luke 16, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.

It's a principle of the kingdom.

So I wonder what God's doing in your life.

Janet was talking about nothing's wasted.

He sees a maturing process going on.

Have you ever had an older person in the faith come up to you and say, I've been watching you, like, you're really growing in the Lord, aren't you?

Has anyone?

Well, we need to do more encouragement.

They're really powerful and empowering words to say.

If you see someone's growth in the Lord, in their parenting, in their fathering, mothering, in their taking on the challenges of the workplace and being a Christian witness, let's encourage one another because God sees it.

He sees our growing maturity.

And something else God sees is his own sovereignty.

He sees it really clearly when we don't.

He's not afraid of what we're afraid of.

He is completely confident that what he has planned will come to pass.

We're in chapter 6 verse 33.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other Eastern peoples joined forces, crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet summoning the Abbezites to follow him.

He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went to meet him.

Somehow God has taken this frightened farm boy, and he's rallying the troops.

He like he actually has become this mighty warrior.

But the lesson we're about to learn really clearly.

Do you know the story?

Like is that not a story about sovereignty?

I mean, it's humorous.

It's very humorous.

So it's funny.

It's not really that Gideon is a mighty warrior, but God is a good God.

Amen?

But he steps out.

He steps out like a mighty warrior.

When the enemy does their usual thing, they come swarming in, Gideon summons all the men, and they come in, and we're told in the text that there are 32,000 men, Israelites, against...

which is a big army, but until you see that they're up against 135,000.

So it's 32,000 against 135,000, and Judges 8-10 tells us that, and then Judges 7 says something that Gideon just does not want to hear.

He just does not want to hear what he hears next.

Gideon, God says, You have too many men for me to do...

What is that?

You have too many men for me to do it.

It's just, he is set on his sovereignty and his glory.

The Bible says he's not gonna share his glory with anyone else.

So that's a good thing to know and remember.

This has been the most problematic microphone ever.

So, he says, You have too many men for me to deliver, Midian into their hands.

In order that Israel may not boast against me, that her own strength has saved her.

So, God wants something to happen.

He says, in verse 3, Anyone, announce now to the people, anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.

So 22,000 men left, while 10,000 remain.

So, there's 10,000 left against 135,000.

And, you know, guess what God says to Gideon?

Too likely that you're going to think you did this on your own strength.

Gideon's like, I promise, I promise.

I will not take any of the credit.

And so, if you know the story, take them down, God says, to the river to drink, and only keep the ones who lift the water in their hand to drink.

All the others who stick their face in the water and drink like a dog, send them home, we don't need them.

And you can see Gideon, he's just going, no, don't do it, don't do it, scoop it up.

Oh, for goodness sake.

Lord, are you still there?

Don't let me go into a season of hiddenness, please.

I want the season of manifestation.

You need to be here with me.

So anyway, 9,700 men drink like a dog.

There's 300 left.

You know what that looks like?

If there's 300 men, shoulder to shoulder, it fills up this auditorium, basically.

135,000 men, it's what, seven or eight cricket fields, shoulder to shoulder.

It's horrendous.

But some of us are being prompted to think of Hebrews.

You cannot please God without faith.

Really?

Yes, that's the truth.

Let that sink in.

Gideon is a story for all of us to look at and say, I remember that story.

Wow, you're not talking to me about anything, Lord.

Now, yeah, maybe he is.

Maybe he's saying, yeah, that's a picture of the way forward.

Have you ever been, or maybe you're in it right now, things are stacked up so far against you that you laugh sometimes.

Anyone?

Give me a hand.

And if you don't laugh, what do you do?

You cry.

It's life, isn't it?

There are things that they stack up against you, and you're just like, whoa.

I don't think this is just natural.

I think this is the devil.

I think there's a spiritual attack going on here, and it is overwhelming.

It's one thing after the other.

And I think we all know what that's like.

And it's at times like that, that fear comes to the surface, doesn't it?

It's like, Lord, I'm feeling it.

I'm overwhelmed.

Can I trust you?

Am I up to the challenge?

And I'm asking for lots of hands today.

Who in that moment or around those moments of difficult stuff has ever heard from God?

Okay, so lots of us have like, you know, God speaks into that moment, and we're just like, thank you, Lord.

And then what, have you ever done the next thing?

Can you confirm that supernatural message with one fleece?

Who did that?

Oh Lord, it's only me.

I've done it like four times.

Like honestly, where it's just been like, oh, that is mind-blowing, Lord.

That's you.

This is scary.

You're here with me.

Could you do it again?

Can you?

And of course, if you know the story of Gideon, that's what he does with the fleece.

And the Jew is like, you're not meant to test God, but he's like, Lord, really?

Can you?

And God shows him, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

It's 300 verse 135,000.

And so, God gives them each man a trumpet and an empty jar and a torch.

And in the dead of night, they surround the camp.

And on Gideon's lead, they smash a lot of jars exposing 300 torches, and they blow the trumpets, and God causes the Midianites.

This time, they don't have to fight them.

Turn them on themselves, and they totally destroy each other.

And everyone looked on, and everyone said, that has to be God.

Like that was God.

Gideon, you had a great call, hey, come and help.

But that's about all you did.

But you did believe.

You stepped out.

The sovereign hand of God.

God sees something in you that you don't know is in you.

And I wonder what that means for 2023.

In all the different, as I get to look at all your faces, so many different stages of life.

That's the wonderful thing in the congregation.

Some are close to the end of life.

The race finishes.

But maybe those people aren't the ones that think it is, because we don't know what tomorrow brings.

But God has a plan for your life in the season you're in, and he has one for me too.

And it's wonderful, because we've been made by our magnificent God as magnificent beings with a part to play in his kingdom.

And he knows what's going on in our lives.

He's seeing the growing maturity.

Every time we act in faith and obedience, he sees that.

And I think the Bible teaches that he takes pleasure in it.

Does anyone else agree?

He takes pleasure in his kids, just trusting him and stepping out in faith.

Gideon, over time, started to realize he has a part to play.

But the most important thing is God, his God is sovereign and good.

And the battle belongs to the Lord.

Isn't Gideon a great biblical story to have in the back of your mind when we sing that song, the battle belongs?

The battle belongs to the Lord.

So what battle are you in that you need to say, God, I can't do this, but I'll do my part.

But it's yours, the battle belongs to you.

That's Gideon's story, isn't it?

And may we take our fears and bring them and say, Lord, I'm feeling afraid.

It's real.

All the signs are there.

I am wracked with fear for the journey ahead.

But be strong and courageous, mighty warrior, because the Lord is with you.

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

So once again, next week, Lord willing, we will talk about unfinished faith and the fact that Christianity is not an endurance event.

It's not a marathon.

Sometimes we think it's not a sprint.

Christianity is a marathon.

I had a revelation two weeks ago, Christianity is not a marathon, because you don't know the end.

Marathons have a finish line.

Christianity is unfinished until the finish line turns up.

And that means that each day we need to find the faith we need to live the life we've been called to live.

Each day has enough worries of its own, so you deal with those days' worries.

Jesus said that.

So I encourage you if anyone needs to stand and just say, God, I got some fears at the moment.

And I might have stood two weeks ago, but today, yeah, I'd love to have some prayer.

So I'd love to pray for you just before we have our worship and the band comes up.

Anyone like to stand and just say, Lord, I got some fears, and I'd love to just bring them before you.

If you'd like to do that now, I'd love to pray for you.

Lord God, loving Father, thank you so much that you're the God who created the universe, and nothing takes you by surprise.

And you are working all things together for good.

And some of us standing here are prompted to stand because we're unsure of the coming days and weeks and months.

And it's scary, genuinely.

So I pray over these brothers and sisters in the name of Jesus, a blessing that they may not fear because you're with them.

And I pray that they might know that your spirit is with them, and they might know your love, and they might have a sound mind.

And I pray for the blessing of sleep at the right time, and refreshment, and clarity, and perspective as we read your word.

We pray that we might find the courage we need in the truth of your word.

Right now, we need a miracle, Lord.

Some of us need a transaction in the kingdom of God between the heavens and the earth.

And we ask, because you invited us to ask, Lord Jesus.

So we ask that there would be a pouring out, a special double portion of grace and empowering to take away the fear and fill it with courage and peace.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

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