Theme Text: Habakkuk 3:19 Judges 6 Part 1 Intro: Good morning and welcome to restoration life. We want to say Welcome Home. Welcome home because this is your House of worship. And if you re an honored guest with us this morning I pray you feel right at home surround by people who love GOD, Love people, and Love life! For the last 4 weeks we ve been in our series Brave We went thorough the amazing story of Esther and how she was positioned with a purpose. By Esther stepping out in bravery, she was able to save her people from genocide and wipe out their enemy. Our Anchor Thought for this series is Being brave doesn't mean we have no fear - it means we refuse to be overcome by it. In fact, if I push past my fears I can face everything and rise above it as a conqueror. I have titled todays message, I will be Brave enough to Trust God with who he says I am. I want us to dive into another story of remarkable Bravery. But like most God would use for His purpose, this person seems to have identity and trust issues with God. 1. This morning we re going to look at a guy named Gideon who could be classified as a coward when we re first introduced to him. a. He goes through a significant transformation by an encounter with the Almighty God.. 1
In Hebrew11 we find the Hero s of Faith, a listing of God s spiritual superheroes. Gideon s name is found there, with many others. While God greatly used these individuals, it wasn t because they were strong unafraid or without faults. Lets read what it says Hebrews 11:32-35 NIV 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. b. Verse 34 reminds us that their weakness was turned to strength My Point: I believe this morning that God will turn your weakness into strength when you step out in Bravery and trust Him. But here lies the problem: I think we live in a time where trust is a huge issue in our society. Trust in our government Trust in our foreign policies Trust in our police Trust in our lawyers and financial advisors Trust in our economy, Trust in the healthcare system Trust in our families and children Even trust in GOD, We are a society that does not trust anyone? WHY? c. Because of lies because of moral failure because hurts and abuse Because the devil has had his way with the world and man continues to fall into sin. Because of that, we experience and do everything that we do. So we find ourselves in a world of Hurt and do things to 2
medicate or remove the pain even if it goes against our faith in God. This is where the children of God yet once again find them selves in our text. When we fail to trust in God we, we prohibit ourselves from walking in and receiving the promise and the favor of God. Numbers 20:12 NIV 12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them." Deuteronomy 1:32-36 NIV 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go. 34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: 35 "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly." My point: God is not looking for perfect people, with a perfect history and a perfect family; He s looking for a people who will trust Him with their lives to do what only He can do through them. God often uses our deepest pain as the launching pad for our Greatest Calling. Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. God loves to use ordinary people like Gideon to accomplish extraordinary things. That means He wants to use people just like you and me. d. We re going to work our way through Gideon s story as we focus on Gideon s Top Ten Ways to Trust God. I. God uses tough times to get our attention. Read Judges 6:1-11 3
1. When we come to Judges 6, we find the nation of Israel, in typical fashion, having turned their backs on God once again. a. This would often happen after a period of time in which things went well. The bills were paid, the kids were obeying, and the camels were not in the shop. But then they became self-sufficient and pushed God away. Before long, an enemy would come in, and tough times spilled over into everyone s life. b. Verse 1 tells us that because they did evil in the eyes of the Lord, God s people were given into the hands of the mighty Midianites. They were extremely powerful and oppressed the Israelites mercilessly. Because things were so bad, the Israelites had left their homes and were living in caves and strongholds, fearing for their lives. With few fortified cities, their only protection was to hide out in the hills. Now the Midianites were nomadic people, and would invade Israel every year at harvest time. Verse 5 mentions that they would come in like locusts and would ravage the land. What they couldn t carry with them they destroyed. c. Lets me stop here and leave you a little nugget Your enemy knows when your harvest is ready. And he is going to try and take everything from you that God want to give you. Everything that you are going through is preparing you for what you ve asked for. Life APPLY: Be Brave, hold on to God with everything you have and trust him through everything your going through and he ll take you to places of Joy and purpose that will fill the longing of your soul. 4
c. Back to our story, finally, after seven long years of suffering, the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help. It s beyond me why they would linger this long to turn back to God. It s as if they waited until they couldn t take it any longer. My Point: We do the same thing, don t we? We know God is trying to get our attention but we hold out, thinking that we can handle it on our own. Even when God allows bad stuff to leach onto our lives, we often refuse to repent and return to Him. Church, God wants to use the tough things you are going through right now in order to get your attention! Charles Spurgeon said, The Lord does not permit His children to sin successfully. d. I love verse 7 because it shows that when we cry out to God, He will respond. In this case, He sends an unnamed prophet to remind them of their history and heritage. Judges 6:7-10 NIV 7 When the Israelites cried to the Lord because of Midian, 8 he sent them a prophet, who said, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 9 I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live.' But you have not listened to me." LIFE APPLY: God expects total surrender and full devotion in verse 10: I am the Lord your God Anything less is rebellion that will bring consequences. When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is punishing you, try to see them as God s gift of grace. 5
Proverbs 3:11-12 My son, do not despise the LORD s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. My Point: He loves you too much to let you keep living the way you are. He treasures you. He longs to be at the center of your life. He sees you going down a path of destruction and He s trying to get your attention. Don t tune Him out. C.S. Lewis has said, God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it s His megaphone to rouse a deaf world. Is God shouting to you today? Is he trying to get your attention? II. God always sees more than we do (6:11-12). Judges 6:11-12 NKJV 11 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. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of Valor bravery!" 1. I love this next scene. a. Gideon was threshing some wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. The Hebrew word used here expresses the idea of hiding. A winepress was made out of stone and was built underground. Normally they would carve out two cisterns, with one slightly below the other. The upper area was used to tread out the grapes. The liquid would then drain into the lower vat. Gideon was probably down in this lower area. b. When someone would thresh wheat they d normally do it out in the open so that the wind could blow away the chaff. 6
But Gideon is afraid of the Midianites and so he s whacking the wheat with a stick. I picture him pulling some branches over the winepress so no one could see him. The mighty Gideon is a hero in hiding. He s defeated and discouraged, filled with doubts and fears. My Point: God always sees more than we see. When He looks at you, He sees a hero in hiding. When God looks at Gideon, He sees a strong soldier. In once sense, God is speaking prophetically because He knows what Gideon is about to accomplish. But on the other hand, God is speaking a positional truth. Right now, at this very moment, because the Lord is with him, he is a mighty warrior. A man of Bravery A Man of courage! III. Listen God want to give you a new I.D. this morning. 1. LIFE APPLY: Just as Gideon did not see himself as a mighty warrior, many of us don t fully understand who we are. a. Some of us have an image of ourselves that is not only unhealthy, it s not biblical. We need to reframe our understanding by allowing the truth of God s Word to impact our identity. 2. Let me go over a few of them right now. a. If you are a born again believer You are fearfully and wonderfully made Psalms 139:14 You are God s child John 1:12 You have been chosen to bear fruit John 15:16 You have been justified Roman 5:1 You are free forever from condemnation Romans 8:1 You will never be separated from the love of God Romans 8:35 You belong to God 1 Corinthians 6:20 You have been adopted as God s child Ephesians 1:5 7
You are God s workmanship Ephesians 2:10 You are a citizen of heaven Philippians 3:20 You have been redeemed and forgiven Colossians 1:14 You are complete in Christ Colossians 2:10 You are more than a Conqueror. Romans 8:37 d. God knows who you are even if you don t. One of the biggest lies we can tell ourselves is that God only uses special people. This is actually a half-truth. God does use only special people, but they re special because He uses them. Look at someone and tell them your someone special! In closing: If you are like me, you often look at your life and see mistakes, failures and problems. You see a person who consistently fails to live up to God s high calling on your life. You see a person who loses far more than he or she wins. You see a person who, from all appearances, is always coming up short. What does God see? When Jesse looked at David, he saw his youngest son. He saw a mere boy who was not worthy to be called to a family meeting with Samuel. When God looked at David, He saw a king, 1 Sam. 16:12. When Gideon s family looked at him, they saw a weakling. When the Lord looked at him, God saw a Brave Warrior. I will be Brave enough to Trust God with who he says I am. God wants to turn your area of weakness into a place of Strength. He is able to take us like we are and transform us into someone valiant and Brave. 8