Fearless - Part 1

Today's sermon, I was really looking forward to, because I knew it was on being "fearless". It was exactly what I needed to hear!

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

We talked about Gideon today and his story of God's plan to help him overcome his fear. His story is in Judges 6. Gideon and the Israelites feared the Midianites and they were seeking refuge from them in the mountains. 200 years earlier, they had defeated the Midianites and for all those generations after that, the Midianites had been stewing over it and they wanted revenge. God had removed his favor from the Israelites because they had been so arrogant about their win 200 years before. So, for 200 years they had stopped growing, but the Midianites were increasing at a rapid rate. The Midianites were also the first ones to domestic the camel, which was a huge advantage in battle times. The Midianites had completely beat and ruined the Israelites. They wiped out their crops and sold their livestock. This sent them into a period of poverty.

That's what makes this next part of the story interesting. In Judges 6:11, it says that God sends an angel to speak to Gideon. The angel says, "The Lord is wiht you, mighty warrior." What's interesting about that? Even though Gideon was hiding, God called him a mighty warrior. God saw something in him that Gideon didn't know was there.

God sees things in us that we don't even know are there, great things. Often, we will get a sense that God is calling us to do something big. At first, we get excited and it sounds really good, but then what happens? Those fears and insecurities come. I can definitely relate to this!! When the whole adoption thing came up, I was so excited, and then after a few days, I was like.....are you sure you have the right person, God?!!

Gideon was insecure because he was afraid God wasn't faithful. He asked God why all that had happened to him, if He was faithful. He is questioning the character and faithfulness of God. When we pray, sometimes it seems as though the opposite of what we ask happens, or that He doesn't hear us at all. We ask why bad things keep happening.

Gideon was also insecure because he was afraid he wasn't good enough. He asked the Lord how could he save Israel when his clan was the weakest. We often do that to God. When He calls us to do something, we think he has it all wrong. We look at our resume and we tell Him that we cannot do what He is asking. Yep, that totally sounds familiar too.

Our Pastor said our challenge this week is to answer this question:
What has fear kept you from doing that God is calling you to do? Whatever that is, pray that your faith will conquer that fear.

I thought this part was funny. Our Pastor said that God loves to do the "Gideon". What is the Gideon? It's when God uses an unsure, insecure, and fearful person to do the impossible! I LOVE that!! God is definitely going to have to pull out the Gideon on me! Haha!

God's Gideon Truths:

1. With God, His strength through your weakness is exactly enough. In Gideon's case, the Lord told him to go in the strength he has and save Israel. The Lord asked, "Am I not sending you?" God's strength is enough. If He's calling you, He will resource you and give you what you need. There's no risk for you, it's His risk. He tells Gideon in Judges 6:16 that he has everything he needs.

Jeff (our Pastor) told a story about how he stood in the building yesterday that is going to be our new church and it was a long time ago that another church met there. He knew God was calling him to start his own church, but he visited that church thinking that maybe he would just join forces with them. Maybe he would just circumvent what he knew God wanted him to do, which was to start Lifepoint. That really hit home with me, because I felt like that is exactly what I have been doing. I have felt God was calling us to Ethiopia, but I was trying to see if we could just adopt from the US instead. When he told that story, I knew that was God telling me that I know better, that I know what He is calling us to do, and I shouldn't be looking for a way around that. Back to Lifepoint..........thank goodness Jeff followed God's calling, because Lifepoint has changed our lives forever!

So, Gideon did what many of us do and demands a sign from God. God gives it to him and then Gideon still isn't satisfied that God is calling him to this, so he asks for another sign. He ends up getting 3 signs from God! That sounded just like me too. You would not believe all the signs God has given me about adoption, but every time He does, I keep asking Him for more signs.

Finally, Gideon believes God and he is able to get 32,000 men in a short time, but the Midianites had 100's of thousands. God then tells Gideon that he has too many men and Gideon doesn't understand that.

2. With God, the way forward is often backward. Our Pastor used the analogy of a slingshot. It gets pulled back, but that helps to propel it forward. Sometimes when you think you're taking steps backward, God is just preparing to propel you forward. In Chapter 7, those who feared were told to leave and 22,000 of them left, leaving Gideon with only 10,000 people. God told those 10,000 to go drink the water. Those who cusped their hands and drank the water that way were the ones He kept. Only 300 were left after that. 300 people to take on 200,000 Midianites! So Gideon is trying to round up all the weapons they can find and God tells them instead to get their instruments, pitchers, and candles. Gideon was totally confused by this point. But God was saying so that they couldn't boast, He wanted them to do it His way. That way, when they won, it would be obvious that it was all God's doing.

So, they made so much noise with the instruments and shattering of the pitchers and the lights that the Midianites were so confused that they freaked out and started killing each other. It didn't make sense, but God showed them He was in control. It was a God thing, no doubt.

God wants to use our weaknesses to show His power. It may seem like we're going backward, but maybe that's because God is ready to propel us. He wants to save us from our safe lives we're living. He wants to take us to do great things because He loves us, not just so that we can do more things.

I just sat there amazed today at how this sermon spoke to every single issue I had been praying about lately. Unbelievable!