Mighty Warriors in the Making
Judges 6:11-17 11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." 13 "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." 14 The LORD turned to him and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?" 15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." 16 The LORD answered, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together." 17 Gideon replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.
Intro: Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they crawled into their tent and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, Holmes awoke and nudged his friend. “Watson, look up and tell me what you see.” Watson replied, “I see millions and millions of stars.”
-“What does that tell you, Watson?” asked Holmes. Watson pondered a moment and then replied, “Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is within the Leo constellation. Chronologically I observe it’s nighttime 3 a.m. on June 14th. Meteorologically, the air appears dry, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day. Why did you ask? What does it tell you?”
-Holmes says, “Watson, you dolt! Someone has stolen our tent!”
-After Deborah had died (Judges 5:31), Israel again became willfully blind to the obvious. They reverted to the old cycle of evil and idolatry, so the consequences were serious. The Midianites were known for their cruel brand of oppressiveness (6:2), so ruthless that Israel had to run and hide in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. The Midianites invaded, robbed and plundered whatever the Israelites had grown, so much so that no crop, livestock, or spirit was left in Israel (6:3). Again they cried unto the Lord, and whenever that happened, victory was assured (3:9, 3:15, 10:10). They left the house of bondage in Egypt (6:9) but they were never free until they learned to listen and obey the lord. God used an insignificant person to overthrow the stranglehold of the Midianites but also break the spell of sin within the family, deliver a community from idolatry and apostasy, and restore the nation to true worship.
-God can use anybody and anything to accomplish His purpose, but He prefers to use the weak and small things of the world, committed and faithful individuals, and patient and empowered people to accomplish His purpose and demonstrate His almighty power. [Borrowed from Victor Yap, sermoncentral.com]
-God uses the weak and small things of the world to accomplish His purpose and demonstrate His almighty power. But as He takes us in our weak state, He begins to work in us and change us from weak and ineffective people into mighty warriors.
-How does God change us from fearful doubters into mighty warriors? Let’s look at some of the ways God helps us to change us into a person of strength and valor.
I. God helps us see beyond ourselves
V.12 "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." – You are a mighty warrior!
V.14 "Go in the strength you have and save Israel….” – You have strength!
V.15 "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family."
-God does not speak falsely! He sees the things that are not as if they were! We would call this seeing through eyes of faith. The Lord saw the end from the beginning and that is why he could call Gideon a mighty warrior! God knew what Gideon could do with what He had given Him, and He also knew that Gideon would stay true to Him and honor Him. That is why He could call him a mighty man of valor.
-One important thing that each of us needs to do is learn to recognize the difference between the voice of the enemy and the voice of the Lord. The enemy will remind us how weak and small and ineffective we are. He will remind us how many times we have failed in the past and try to create the expectation of failure in the future.
-But the Lord sees our heart and He also sees the future. He is not limited by time and space and He knows what we’re made of because He made us! He can look at us and say, “You are more than a conqueror through Me, the One who loves you! You will do great things in my name! You will lead people closer to Me as you get closer to Me yourself!” Learn to recognize the voice of the Lord as He speaks to your heart through His Holy Spirit.
-God helps us see beyond ourselves. This not only applies to our areas of weakness, but also to areas where we might be tempted to be overconfident in ourselves. Sometimes we make it all about self! What will people think of me? How will this benefit me? What do I get out of it? Or we might even be tempted to take credit for something God does through us, when we know we could do nothing without Him! If we start heading down that path, God will humble us and help us get over ourselves. Because whether we think too little of ourselves or too much, God wants to make mighty warriors out of us, and that can only happen when we begin to see beyond ourselves, and realize that His power is at work within us.
II. God helps us see beyond our circumstances
V.13 “…if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?”
-Have you ever been in the middle of something very discouraging and disheartening? Did you find yourself asking this same question? God, if you are really with me, then why is all this bad stuff happening? Can’t you do anything about it? Don’t you care? I thought you wanted to bless us and show us Your goodness, not misery! What is this all about?
-When we are going through tough circumstances, we often focus on how big our problems are and how weak or small we are. And in one sense we are right! Our problems are too big for us to handle by ourselves. But, God gives us strength! He fights for us and through us! So He calls us to step out in faith and GO in the strength that He has already blessed us with and He will make up the difference!
-It is helpful if we can remember that we are not defined by our circumstances! Bill Bright, Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, said, "Circumstances do not contribute to our misery. It is our lack of understanding of who God is and his wonderful, holy purpose for us that frustrates so many."
-When we allow our circumstances to get us down, it shows that we have taken our eyes off of the Lord and on our problem and on our own weakness. Now I think we need to acknowledge our own weakness, but realize that we are defined by who we trust in. Our past failures do not define us. Our family history does not define us. Our station in life does not define us. We are defined and valued by the One who created us! Our circumstances are opportunities to discover more fully who God is and how He works in and through our lives.
III. God assures us that we are not alone
V.12 "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."
V.14 “Am I not sending you?”
V.16 “"I will be with you”
-When Joshua was called by God to take over the leadership of Israel after Moses died, I’m sure he struggled with at least 2 things: inferiority and a sense of aloneness. Moses, the great leader of Israel was dead. Now what? How do you follow up an act like that? Who would Joshua go to for counsel? His mentor, his lead Pastor was gone. But God didn’t leave him to figure it out himself. He came close to him and spoke words or comfort and reassurance to him. Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” God was speaking words of life and hope into Joshua’s spirit.
-The fact that God is with us is the best antidote for fear and discouragement! Knowing that God is with us makes all the difference! Of course, one of the keys to God’s presence is living in obedience to the word of the Lord to us. God promises never to leave us, but what if we are the ones who leave Him?
-An elderly husband and wife were driving behind a young couple. The wife noticed how close they were sitting to each other and she said, “Harold, isn’t that sweet? I wish we were still that close.” Harold looked over and said with a grin, “I’m not the one who moved.”
-People of God, if we begin to drift away from the Lord and allow other things to crowd Him out, we might find that He seems a million miles away. And it’s not because He left us! So, work hard at staying close through prayer and reading the Bible, and doing the things that keep you growing in your faith!
-You are not alone, so don’t act like you are! Don’t seclude yourself away from other people or away from God. Give up some of your hiding places. God knows where you are anyway. Come out of hiding and get close to Him! He will be with you always!
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
IV. God graciously confirms His word to us
-I’m always struck by Gideon’s need for a sign. It would seem that having the Angel of the Lord show up and talk with you would be enough of a sign. Or, if that wasn’t enough, how about when the Angel of the Lord zaps the sacrifice of meat and bread? But just to be sure that it was really the Lord, and not an imposter, or a crazy dream or hallucination, Gideon asked for another sign. He took a wool fleece and laid it out on the threshing floor and asked if God would make the fleece wet from the dew, but the ground dry. God did it. Still not enough. So, Lord, could you make the ground wet from dew, but make the fleece dry? God did it!
-Now it’s easy for us to look at Gideon’s need for confirmation and be somewhat critical of him. However, we don’t find any indication that the Lord scolded him or chided him for needing a sign. Instead, God was very gracious with providing the evidence that Gideon needed to go on.
-Now I don’t think we need to ask God to do the fleece miracle. People mistake all kinds of things for divine signs out of their wishful thinking. “Lord, if You want me to buy that car, please let the salesman be wearing a pink tie.” And lo and behold, Mr. Pink Tie comes walking up to you to sell you a car. Can God work that way? Sure, He can do anything. But if He has already revealed His word and will to us, then we don’t need further signs that He really meant what He said.
-On the other hand, God know where we are. And if you are at a place where you really need something to go on, God is fully capable of giving you what you need. If you really need a fleece, God will grant it so you can be sure of what He is calling you to do.
-It’s not that we doubt God’s word. But there may be times when we aren’t sure whose voice we are hearing. I think it is always appropriate to ask God to confirm His will to you, and He is often willing to do so.
Conclusion: So as we close, you may see yourself as weak and ineffective because of past failures or because you don’t think you measure up to those around you, remember that God sees the end from the beginning and knows who you really are in Him! He knows what you are capable of with His help, as He works through your life that is surrendered completely to Him.
-Know this: “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!” And “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
-As God makes us into mighty warriors, He will help us learn to see beyond ourselves, see beyond our circumstances, He will assure us that we are not alone, and He will often confirm His word to us so we can be certain we are following Him.
-So, GO in the strength that you have and God will help you do what He has called you to do! He is with you and will always be with you as long as you stay with Him.
-Today, if you are not close to God, I’m happy to tell you that you can be! James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” What step will you take to come close to God? Would you be willing to have someone pray for you? Do you need to set up a time to talk about these things with a Pastor or strong Christian? What is the Lord saying to you? Use the strength that you have and respond to Him and He will help you become the mighty warrior He has planned for you to be.
