Self Doubt - A Fatal Flaw or Window to Faith

and in the morning I will send you on

your way and will tell you all that is

in your heart as for the donkeys you

lost three days ago don't worry about

them they have been found and to whom is

all the desire of Israel turned if not

to you and to your whole family line now

Saul answered but am I not a benja might

from the smallest tribe of Israel is not

my clan the least of all the clans of

the tribe of Benjamin why do you say

such a thing to me and then it goes on

to say that Samuel invited him to eat

that day and went on to explain to him

his calling let's pray dear God I thank

you that you have a destiny for each one

of us you have a calling you have a

purpose I thank you Lord that even

though we usually stumble into our

destiny without realizing it God that

you know what you're doing we may feel

like we're lost but we're not we're

right where we're supposed to be because

you're looking for us and I thank you

that you have a plan for us but God

sometimes it's hard for us to believe

that sometimes all we can see is our own

problems and shortcomings and I pray God

that today you would teach us how to

overcome our fears and our self doubt

and learn to depend on the Great God

speak to us today I pray in Jesus name

Amen man Saul was not so happy about

what the prophet Samuel told him right

he didn't answer saying yeah you're

right I always thought I was supposed to

be a king now some of us have that

problem many of us don't have a low self

esteem we have a it appropriately big

self esteem that God needs to Humble us

I would say all of us are in that

category in some way right

but look at what happens with Saul he's

like it can't be me you can't be talking

about me and he had excuses he had

reasons why God couldn't use him he said

am I not a benja might from the smallest

tribe of Israel the tribe of Benjamin

was famous or i should say infamous in

israel because it was a tribe that a few

about a hundred years earlier had

committed some of the most horrible

atrocities and if you were a benja might

it was like 'hey you're from the tribe

of Benjamin you since I'm a benja might

you can't be talking about me and not

only am i from this bad tribe in Israel

but I'm from the smallest family in that

tribe how can you say these things to me

now it's interesting cuz Saul was a tall

man he was an impressive man but he was

a man with a profoundly low self esteem

he had a sense of inferiority about

himself it was interesting because

little later a couple weeks later the

prophet Samuel gathered all the people

to draw lots to pick the next king to

confirm that it was going to be saw and

they drew lots from all the people in

Israel narrowing it down from tribe to

tribe to tribe to Family to Family to

Family and finally by lot Saul was

chosen what a coincidence huh the

prophet Samuel wasn't worried he knew

God chose that guy now we're going to

draw lots and the lot will fall to Saul

so when the time came to choose all all

the people were gathered we're going to

pick our next king I wonder who it's

going to be and then the lot falls to

Saul son of Kish it was like Saul Saul

we're so just look at there's a mumbling

going on Saul we're so well so too and

they and they started looking for him

you know where they found him hiding

among the baggage it's like he's high

he's hiding in the bathroom hiding in

the bathroom what was he afraid of and

so they just all get out of the baggage

you're supposed to be king he's like

yeah right

Yeah right I'm King you know it pulled

him out he calls out there and he was a

head taller than everyone else and the

prophet Samuel says look at your new

king and he's standing there he's just

got to be dying thinking I would really

much rather be hiding in the bathroom

right now he's like I can't do this I'm

not that guy he felt insecure he felt

afraid he had a sense of his own

inadequacy now that should remind us of

someone else you know the prophet Samuel

put it this way he said God called you

to be king even though you were small in

your own eyes even though you were small

in your own eyes he was a tall man but

he saw himself like this so I'm self

small do any of us do that any of us may

be thinking yeah I'm yeah oh we can see

where our weaknesses right you look in

the mirror at all you can see are the

the blemishes all right everyone else

they say you're looking pretty good

today you're like I don't feel like I've

looking pretty good you ever think you

have excuses not to do what God calls

you to do no it can't be me I'm too

young do we have any any people under

the age of 18 in this room they have

made teenagers or kids no could say no

not me I'm too young can't be me or

someone else who might say but you don't

know what I've done you don't know my

past you don't know my struggles you

don't know my problems God says yes you

yes you Moses said I can't do it I don't

know how to talk I stutter and God's

like uh no excuses no excuses God calls

people who sometimes feel inadequate in

themselves if we read this text it

should remind us of another man who was

called about a hundred years earlier to

do some amazing things in the tribe of

Israel and he answered in a almost

exactly the same way and I believe that

the Bible wants us to connect this text

with that one so let's take a look in

the book of Judges chapter six judges

chapter six disco go back a couple books

judges chap

six this is a book about a series of

military leaders in the people of Israel

tribe of Israel who would who would

raise up and be great deliverers and

great leaders and how God would deliver

his people and this is the story about

how God called one of the greatest

warriors and leaders in the entire

history of Israel a man named Gideon you

ever heard of Gideon before yeah yeah he

leaves Bibles in hotel rooms right he

put some right and well this is what

that's named after right this guy Gideon

judges 6 verse 11 now this was a time

before I i start judges 611 this was a

time during incredible oppression in the

people of israel the people of Israel

were under the oppression of a nation

called Midian and the Midianites would

come in and would steal all their bread

they would bring all their camels and

all their armies like a multitude like

they said it's like the sand on the

seashore and they would devour all the

crops and all the grass and the people

of Israel were being starved to death by

Midian it was a time of terrible

oppression and so we find Gideon in the

middle of this in verse 11 it says the

angel of the Lord came and sat down

under the oak in Oprah that belonged to

joash the Abbey as right where his son

Gideon was threshing wheat in a

winepress to keep it from the Midianites

ok I want to stop right there for a

second anyone know about threshing wheat

I don't know about threshing wheat you

know I didn't learn that in the town in

Connecticut I grew up in and they didn't

teach it to me in seminary here in

Boston either so let's talk about

threshing wheat wheat is a like a stalk

of wheat right they would take the wheat

everyone in Israel everyone in the

ancient world knew about threshing wheat

you would take the wheat and it's got

the colonel on it but it's also got the

stock and it's got chaff and so they

would bring it to a place called a

threshing floor and they would have a

long like instrument sort of like a long

stick like a threshing stick and they or

they call it a fork

sometimes it would be pronged and they

would put the weed up in the air and

they would whack it with the threshing

stick and it would knock the wheat so

that the heavy part the colonel would

fall to the ground and the chaff the the

light part of the wheat would just blow

away and they'd sweep it away and at the

end you've got a nice pile of wheat

kernels that you can use to make bread

it's called threshing wheat the main

thing you need to Thresh wheat is an

open space that's nice and big where you

can swing and you can hit it must have

been a lot of fun you know kinda like

demolishing you know you get to demolish

things every now and then you know

that's okay it's kind of fun right there

back in that week getting out their

aggressions getting up and but what you

need is open space and you also need a

breezy air to blow the wheat to blow the

chaff right so you need some wind or you

need a breeze now Gideon was threshing

wheat do you notice where he was

thrashing the wheat verse 11 is it says

he was threshing wheat not on a

threshing floor a nice open threshing

floor but in a wine press and when here

ever pressed wine we might have one or

two there's always somebody who went to

France or chili and stomped and now I

never did that right I know that you did

you see you seen on TV what they would

do is they would put the grapes in a

wine press and wine presses in those

days they would dig them into the ground

sort of like a like a 6-foot deep like a

well like a pit a circular small thing

so one person could fit in there and

just jump up and down on the week right

on the the grapes and make it sound

again it sounds like fun yeah I want to

go do I want to try some of this someday

right and they're stomping on the grapes

it was a pit in the ground that was a

circular enclosed concrete kind of pit

they found some of them look up google

wine press ancient wine press and you'll

see some pictures of wine presses from

this time you can actually see it I

should have projected it next time so

it's a circular thing so Gideon was

threshing wheat in a little wine press

and closed wine press do you see

the problem you see the problem when you

need to Thresh wheat is a place where

you can swing and hit stuff and there's

wind a wine press it's Underground he

was doing it why was he doing that he's

hiding he was hiding from the Midianites

because if they saw him doing what he's

doing they're going to confiscate the

grain so he has to hide underground and

try to Thresh wheat the only comparison

I could think of and some of you could

probably come up with a better one it's

kind of like trying to fly a kite in

your basement right try to fly the kite

in the basement and you got the kite and

you throw it up in the air ha it is

still not working I'm still it you're

trying to fly kite in the basement maybe

you should find a windy place maybe an

open place right that's what Gideon was

doing it was ludicrous it was something

that in the ancient world they would

have read this and they would have

actually it would have evoked a laugh he

was threshing wheat in a wine press so

at this moment the angel of the Lord

came to him and sat down right near

there under a tree in Oprah Gideon was

threshing the weed now in verse 12 we'll

go back to the text when the angel of

the Lord appeared to Gideon he said now

first of all what do you expect him to

say what are you doing in a wine press

crushing week right he doesn't say that

though he says the Lord is with you

mighty warrior how about that i would

think that god would say what are you

doing down there this is so pathetic

you're trying to fly a kite in the

basement you're trying to Thresh but

instead the angel of the Lord now when

we're talking about the angel of the

Lord here there are different kinds of

angels all right there are some angels

that would appear to people that are

glowing spiritual beings that would

terrify people and they would fall down

but then sometimes God's angels appear

as human figures and people don't even

know they're angels at first that's why

the Bible says that some people have in

showing hospitality entertained angels

without realizing it like Abraham did

like some of us may have done angel

sometimes can be just a guy right there

a person and you don't recognize them so

that's the case here and it's a specific

angel it's the

angel of the Lord who I believe actually

might just be Jesus invading human

history before he was incarnated but

that's that's just me so the angel is

sitting there and looks down at him and

instead of saying what do you think

you're doing down there he says the Lord

is with you mighty warrior how about

that how about that see the angel didn't

see a scared man cowering in a pit the

angel of the Lord saw who this person

was in God's eyes he saw you are a man

of courage you're a man of Valor you are

the real thing now what would your

response be might be excuse me and in

fact that's exactly what Gideon says he

says excuse me sir look at this verse 13

a pardon me my lord or excuse me sir

literally getting reply but if the Lord

is with us what am i doing threshing

wheat in a wine press doesn't exactly

say that he says if the Lord is with us

why has all this happened to us where

are all of God's wonders that our

ancestors told us about when they said

did not the Lord bring us up out of

Egypt but now the Lord has abandoned us

and has given us into the hand of Midian

how about that now you got to keep in

mind the conversation is going on when i

get into the baptist the baptismal here

i'm going to be cut down low i'm going

to be talking to you guys and I'm going

to be like this imagine he's kind of

underground right so he's looking up out

of this pit the Angels sort of sitting

there looking down and he's like if God

is with us then why are we so oppressed

have you ever felt that way you know

someone says you ever come to church and

people say God is with you and you like

I believe that but it's hard for me to

believe that right now you ever felt

like if God is with me then why is my

life such a mess you ever felt that way

that's the way Gideon felt if God is

with me then why are we a

by her enemies why am I trying to fly a

kite in my basement why am I here trying

to Thresh wheat in a wine press and so

he's saying where's god I've heard

stories about God I heard stories about

how God delivered his people from Egypt

he separated the waters and the people

walked through and the awesome God of

the Exodus I heard stories about the God

who appeared a Mount Sinai fire and

thunder and lightning and that's the god

I want to see but right now I don't see

that God anywhere so you always gotta

wonder if Gideon thinks are you mocking

me you making fun of me God is with you

it's like you know it's like it's like

you just strikeout you're playing

baseball you strike out your helmet

comes flying off you stumble back into

the dugout and they say you're the best

God is with you Slugger and you're like

you making fun of me here are you

mocking me God isn't mocking him and by

the way let me just say I don't believe

in false praise right I don't believe

that we need to lie to people and tell

them they're good at something when

they're not necessarily right right we

don't have to do that that's not helpful

my son the other day he was doing some

karate moves in the in the in the living

room and you know he was he was looking

good I was like Noah you know it's not

just cuz I'm your dad you are looking

good that is those are good moves and

he's like you know he's looking good

then you through on his soccer uniform

and we went to his soccer game there's a

different different experience anyone

ever seen peanuts this is this is

terrible someday he's gonna watch this

online and he is gonna let me have it

you know I just roast him every Sunday

but you ever seen peanuts where Lucy is

holding the football for Charlie Brown

and Charlie Brown comes and and and she

pulls it away and he goes flying any

lands on his back that's kind of like my

son playing soccer you know he whiffs

ends up on his back and then Illinois

people don't just leave him there though

a bunch of first and second graders

gather around him and just kick the

fing out of him you know and and then

because they're going for the ball of

course but they can't see their their

six you know they're just kicking

whatever is on the ground at that moment

and then he gets up and he's all you

know dusty and kind of staggers back to

the game it's after the game I'm not

gonna tell him you're the best soccer

player in the world I wouldn't be too

bad you know I say you you really you

ran around out there you you really ran

you you got dirty you you you almost

kicked that ball you connected once I

did you know okay so I'm gonna tell the

truth you know but um praise the Lord

you do what you gotta do right its life

its life you know it's just life is just

a reality the angel of the Lord is

looking at Gideon and says the Lord is

with you mighty warrior and he's like

whatever you are you big what's going on

here you really talking to me now look

at what Gideon now the conversation goes

on it goes to another level okay goes to

another level look at what happens next

it says then the Lord turned to him in

in the original I think it says the Lord

looked at him and said go now about what

I'm visualizing here Gideon is down low

he's in the winepress the angel is

sitting up there the Angels looking like

a guy he still thinks it's just a person

then the angel sort of does this and

sort of looks at him and is staring

right into his eyes and this is the

moment when Gideon gets the first close

look at this man's eyes and I think he

starts realizing maybe this just isn't

some random person look at what he says

the Lord turned two men said go in the

strength you have and save Israel out of

midians hand am I not sending you but I

think at this moment Gideon starts

getting chills and he realizes what if

this isn't just a guy what if this is

something other than a person what if

this is an angel what if this is God

talking to me and so he says go take

what strength you have and just go and

I will help you you will save and save

Israel out of medians hands i'm sending

you now Gideon answers in verse 15 again

excuse me sir or pardon me my lord

Gideon reply but how can I save Israel

my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I

am the least in my family that sound

familiar just like King Saul how can I

do this and I'm remember he's looking up

at this guy he's down they look at how

can I do this I'm from the smallest clan

in Israel apparently Manasseh was the

smallest and I am the loser of my family

anyone feel like you're from a messed-up

family and you're the loser that in the

name of Jesus we rebuke that title

because some people live with that fence

black sheep I'm the black sheep I'm the

rebel my brothers and sisters they're

good at school me oh well I'm good for

drinking you know or I'm good for

whatever i'm good for fighting or I'm

good for and you walk and you live your

life with this label on your forehead

that says I am the loser in Spanish

there's an interesting saying to be a me

siento me trata como ser o a la

izquierda un cero allies Kiera yeah it's

really hard just to swallow that means

in English they treat me like a zero and

not just any zero but a zero on the left

less than nothing so it's like go to the

zero and go left which you're in the

negative integers that's me you said all

I see are just some people live like

that Gideon felt that way how can I do

this I just can't do it that sense of

inferiority that sense of inadequacy I

just don't know if I can do what I'm

supposed to do I know my weaknesses and

failings now I want to say something and

this is where we're going to go with

this this is different from humility

humility is a good thing humility gives

you confidence inferiority or in

security is based on fear and cripples

us there's a difference between the two

see humility is good in fact anybody

that God will use he will humble you

first he will humble you before use you

pride goes when you know the proverb

pride goeth before a fall God will

humble those who uses he's done it with

all his great servants throughout

history Moses felt like he was going to

be a great leader but he even presumed

he killed an Egyptian to try to deliver

his people and be a great hero he grew

up in Pharaohs household and he had to

flee to the desert and live in the

desert for 40 years before he was humble

enough for God to use him some people

are too proud to be used by God there's

too much of them they've got a they need

some humble pie therapy they need to

touch bottom before God can use them

that ego that pride that self will needs

to be broken the Apostle Paul talked

about the thorn in his flesh you ever

heard of that he talked about how God

gave me great revelations of heaven but

to keep me humble God has given me a

thorn in my flesh to keep me humble

otherwise I would become too proud

anyone here have a thorn in your flesh

no no looking next to you you know any1

have a thorn in your flesh where you

feel that inadequacy no Peter you know

the story of the Apostle Peter when

Jesus said you're all going to going to

abandon me what did Peter say said I'll

never abandon you lord he was he was

cocky he was confident / self-confident

even if everyone else denies you I never

will and Jesus looked at min said Peter

before the Sun sets tonight you will

deny three times that you even knew me

he says no even if I have to die with

you see Peter needed some good failure

before he could be a great leader he

needed to be broken needed to be humble

I will guarantee anybody you know who

really

has power in the things of God who's

really used by God has been humbled by

God in some way you might not see what

they've gone through or what they're

going through but there's something that

God is using to Humble them or to break

them or to keep them humble because God

uses broken vessels I've heard of it

this way Jacob you heard the story of

Jacob in the Old Testament was a very

self-confident man who was very

deceptive he would do all kinds of he

was kind of tricky right there came a

moment when his tricks and problems

caught up with him and the angel of the

Lord I wonder if it was the same one

appeared to Jacob and they wrestled all

night you ever heard that story of Jacob

wrestling with an angel all night you

see for many of us when God calls us he

needs to wrestle with us cuz we are too

strong in ourselves and wrestling all

night and at the end of the night Jacob

wouldn't let go and he says I won't let

you go unless you bless me and the angel

said you have struggled with God and men

and Neville and have overcome so he

changed his name from Jacob to Israel

which means the one who struggles with

God but then God or the angel hit his

hip so that he was limping and the Bible

says as the Sun was rising that Jacob

was walking along with a limp and he

walked the rest of his life with a limp

for God to use us in some way we have to

walk with a limp we have to be broken we

have to be humbled but that is different

from being insecure you see insecurity

or fearfulness can lead us in some

terrible directions insecurities can

kill you it can kill you fear and

insecurity can turn you into a monster

it really can it is not humility

humility is good

it's based on fear of God in security is

based on fear of people fear of failure

fear of what if fear can be our greatest

enemy now I want to go back to Saul and

think about his life a little bit Saul

okay so are you with me I'm talking

about a lot of different stories right

so we're talking mainly about two kings

or king and a leader Saul and Gideon

both started their life insecure and

fearful but their lives ended in

radically different ways so Gideon went

on to be a great leader for God Saul

went on to be one of the worst tyrants

ever recorded in the Bible because he

didn't know how to handle his fears and

his insecurities if you wonder about the

dangers of fear and insecurity just ask

yourself have you ever had a boss or a

supervisor who is insecure now have you

ever had someone in authority over you

who is insecure and because of their own

insecurities they will cut off your head

if they need to to protect themselves

you ever done insecure people in

authority can be very dangerous that's

what happened with King Saul what

happened with him is he allowed his

fearfulness and insecurities to motivate

him to take things into his own hands

rather than to relax and trust God

there's an interesting story a little

later after Saul became king so you're

still with me I'm telling a lot of

stories today you with me Saul was

called to go to war and to do a great

battle and the prophet Samuel said

you've gotta wait for me until I come

and do the sacrifice so King Saul is

waiting and waiting and Saul doesn't

show up and he's waiting waiting waiting

people his men are starting to desert

and the enemy is right there and so in

his fear he said bring me the sacrifice

and he offered the sacrifice to God as

if offered the sacrifice would be a good

luck charm

rather than obeying God's instructions

Samuel comes and says because you have

disobeyed God God has rejected you as

king you see Saul in his fear and

anxiety he took things into his own

hands rather than taking a deep breath

and doing things God's Way have you ever

found in your own life that when we act

out of fear and worry and we act quickly

and we rush we make mistakes sometimes

we need to take a break take a deep

breath slow down and say what does God

want me to do I'm not going to act out

of my fears but I'm going to act out of

faith now things got worse for Saul

because later God called him to do

another battle and it's kind of a

confusing story that will study some day

but God called him to to fully destroy a

city that was a evil city that God was

using Israel as a instrument of judgment

against them and saw rather than

destroying everything he took some of

the best cattle and sheep and he took

them to an altar at the worship center

of Israel to do an offering a public

sacrifice for God on the way he stopped

just long enough to build a monument for

himself to build a monument in his own

honor and then he's going to do this

great sacrifice look at the great

victory I have achieved Samuel comes

along and said didn't God tell you to

destroy everything and sounds like yeah

I did I did then he says what is this

bleeding of sheep in my ears then what

is this lowing of cows oh well those are

for the sacrifice and Samuel site says

obedience is better than sacrifice what

do you think God is like a magic charm

that somehow you if you offer a

sacrifice it covers over all your

disobedience you see Saul viewed God as

a good luck charm that he could use

instead of Saul letting God be God and

make him great he tried to be great

himself and use god as a good luck charm

in the

process there are some people who use

church that way I was really like that

before i became a christian i used to

say rosaries every night right and i'm

not trying to criticize any religious

background going to it but I would do it

as a good luck charm especially if I had

a baseball game the next day and I

really wanted to win okay I'll say a

whole rosary it's not weird there's a

weird 14 year old and that says but i

was using religion as good luck right

Saul was like that and he was letting

his own insecurities motivate him to

seek to validate himself in

inappropriate ways build a monument in

his own honor try to make himself great

in the wrong way and then when David

came along and started having success in

battle King Saul became profoundly

envious and jealous of him because he

felt insecure no I got to keep him down

because here I've got to be the king and

out of his own insecurities he would be

competitive and political against David

and even tried to kill him sometimes

David would be playing the harp in an

evil spirit of jealousy would come upon

soul and he'd throw his spirit to the

wall and try to pin David to the wall

remember how we talked about a couple

weeks people with anger issues probably

shouldn't own a spear right because you

never know what you'll deal with it will

saul was like that so in his insecurity

he felt the need to keep other people

down he felt the need to be competitive

and be envious his life ends in a

terrible way he becomes an abuser and a

tyrant in Israel and a profoundly

dangerous person I believe many of the

dictators in countries that oppress

others are people who are very insecure

themselves or their group and they need

to bolster themselves by putting others

down thinking Saul did that now here's

where I'm going with this our

insecurities can be our fatal flaw if

we're not careful it can lead us

to be envious of others to be jealous to

be competitive it can lead us to try to

bolster ourselves in ways that are

inappropriate it can lead us to fight I

think a lot of the violence that happens

on the street as a result of insecurity

and sensitivity why did he look at me

that way why did he say that gotta fight

insecure now thank God there is another

path we can take Gideon instead of

building a monument to himself now I

want to go back to Gideon you know what

he did after this encounter with the

angel Gideon built an altar for God to

worship God and I want to challenge you

today instead of building a monument to

yourself to try to prove yourself focus

on building an altar so that you worship

God because Gideon realized I don't have

to be great if I worship a great God if

I'm insecure and fearful that's okay the

weaker the better the Apostle Paul said

I delight in my weaknesses because when

I am weak then I am strong i boast about

my weaknesses so that the power of

Christ can be manifest in me if you feel

weak if you feel inadequate then that is

a good thing because that means God can

be great and powerful in you you don't

have to be great you don't have to prove

yourself you don't have to fight because

you have a big scary God who is fighting

for you amen that is the key to

overcoming this weakness and this

fearfulness and this in security of

knowing i am not going to make myself

anything i am going to touch base with

god and let him be powerful through me

i'll let him be great through me you

know it's kind of weird the answer to

fear this is going to be very strange is

fear okay the answer to fear is fear

Gideon when he realized that the man he

was talking to was

angel of God he brought a sacrifice that

he put it he bought some food put it on

a rock it was consumed by fire and then

the guy disappeared and Gideon said I've

been talking to the angel of the Lord

face to face I'm gonna die and God said

don't worry you're not going to die you

see he realized this was God and he was

afraid that is a good fear it's better

to be afraid of God than of anything

else because when we fear God we fear a

God who is great and who is awesome and

who is thankfully on our side it's weird

jesus said do not be afraid of people

who can kill your body I'll tell you who

you should fear fear the one who can

throw body and soul into hell it's not

weird but if I'm afraid of God because

God is so awesome he's so big but I know

that that God is on my side he's behind

me then I don't have to be afraid of

anything else because you just gonna

have to deal with my my big brother

who's behind me here defending me that's

what King David said he said you come at

me with your spear and your armor

Goliath I come at you in the name of the

Lord Almighty whom you have defied this

day so I don't have to be afraid because

my god is a scary God and he's fighting

for me now i'm gonna i'm going to

dismiss our baptism people it's time for

you to go downstairs you just have to

catch this online because please I

getting to the happy part please I do

watch it online okay baptism people can

go downstairs Gideon learned that the

answer to his insecurities was to see

how big and awesome God was now I want

to look again at judges six judges

chapter six he built the altar and when

he built that altar and worshipped God

and he had an encounter with God he

named the altar something that I want to

focus on he named the altar jehova

sholom it says in at the end of judges

verse 6

or in judges 6 verse verse 23 the Lord

says peace you are not going to die and

Gideon build the altar and he named the

altar the Lord is peace when we know

that our God is awesome and that he is

with us then we can have peace because

it's not about me anymore it's about him

jehova sholom jehova sholom i invite you

when you feel like you are out of your

league when you feel like you just can't

do it to know that god will go with you

in whatever he's calling you to do and

he is an awesome scary God and there is

nothing that can come against you that

is scarier than him there is nothing

that you can challenge that is bigger

than him and so you go at it with a

confidence and a strength that is

courageous and is awesome now what I

have often found in my own life is that

sometimes God calls me to do the things

that I am most afraid of and you might

have that in your own life God may call

you to do things that you would least

expect you have to do things you think

you can't do and God will specifically

pick those things and put you in those

situations so that you learn that he is

bigger than your problems he's bigger

than your fears and that's what he did

with Gideon I want you to look with me a

judge's 634 and we're going to begin to

wrap it up with this although I need to

give them some time to change into their

robes down there Gideon 6 verse 34

Gideon said to God oh wait a minute oh

I'm in the wrong place sorry

734 no that's the wrong place to see

sorry well I'm just going to tell the

story then because I can't find it i

think i need new glasses here but Gideon

was called to go into battle after he

had this encounter with God right God

said the enemy's Midian and the

Amalekites came against Israel and God

said now is the time now is the time for

you to go into battle and the Bible says

that the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon

but he uses very interesting language

for it the type of anointing the word

that's used for it is it the Holy Spirit

clothed himself with Gideon the Holy

Spirit became Gideon almost kind of

clothed himself with Gideon and then

Gideon blew the trumpet and went into

battle and here's how I read that God

wants to do things on earth but he

chooses to clothe himself with people to

do it have you ever heard the phrase the

we are God's hands and his feet we are

God's mouth God looks for people that he

can work through and you become his

hands you become his feet now God could

just do it he could send an angel right

but for some reason he chooses to use

people to do great things in this world

he chooses to clothe himself with people

and that's what the spirit did with

Gideon he clothed himself with Gideon

it's night the the the the opposing army

covers the the hills like dick so many

camels it's just an amazing throng and

he's got 300 biggest losers with him and

he's got to attack the next day now God

knows that sometimes we're afraid

sometimes we don't know if we can do

what we're called to do so God says if

you're afraid in the middle of the night

I want you to take a walk Gideon go down

among the men and just wander around and

you're going to overhear some

thing that's going to encourage your

heart you ever seen there's a movie

about Henry the fifth a Shakespearean

play where where the king is wandering

among his men hidden that's what Gideon

was doing he just sort of wandered down

and he overheard a couple guys talking

and this guy's saying you're not going

to believe a dream I just had I dreamt

that a big enormous loaf of barley bread

roll down the hill and rolled into the

enemy camp and knocked over the enemy

tent and the ten fell down the guy says

it's got to be Gideon winning a great

victory what's up with a dream about

bread knocking over tents right but it

was all Gideon needed then he knew God

is speaking to me God is encouraging me

to go through with it see greatness and

obeying God isn't about being great it's

about being faithful it's about going

where you're supposed to go and doing

what you're supposed to do and if we put

ourselves at the right place obeying God

even though I feel like I can't do it

God promises I will meet you there my

power will be waiting for you right

there and I will channel through you and

great things will happen sort of like a

lightning rod no lightning is going to

strike the earth it doesn't just strike

the earth it looks for a conductor well

god is looking for conductors for people

who will be faithful where you will just

go where you're supposed to go do what

you're supposed to do and watch God move

through you so Gideon took his 300 men

and does anyone know the story did he

give them swords to fight with no no

he's okay guys here's what we going to

do for the battle you're going to take a

torch and they somehow had glass covers

for the torches made it kind of like a

lamp all right you can hold that in one

hand and in the other hand you're going

to hold a little shofar trumpet we got

300 of them here throw with your little

shofar and when I say a sword for the

Gideon for

for the Lord I don't want you to grab a

sword I want you to blow your your

trumpet so so so we've only got three

hundred guys unarmed guys and we're

gonna blow our little trumpets and we're

gonna win a battle you know Gideon had

asked a question at the beginning of all

this he said where is the god of the

exodus the God who delivered us from

Egypt the god who appeared on Mount

Sinai on Mount Sinai there was the sound

of trumpets blowing there was the sound

of thunder there was light flashing so

when he had these men break those

bottles and blow those trumpets he was

acting out the exodus he was saying the

presence of God is here the god of the

exodus where is he he's right here he's

the same God the same God that delivered

us from Egypt will give us the victory

in this battle it's not about me it's

about God and they did it and we know

the story all the enemy turned on each

other right there were two nations the

Amalekites the Midianites they turned on

each other they started fighting they

started killing each other and getting

with his 300 little guys that's when

they did pick up their swords and they

followed after the enemy it is

considered next to the exodus the

greatest military supernatural victory

in the history of Israel and in the book

it's talked about for the rest of the

Bible and here's where i'm going with

all of this God calls us to be like

Gideon and please not to be like Saul

when you feel like you can't do it when

you feel like there's all kinds of

reasons why you can't serve God the way

he's called you to do remember that God

calls you to just go and then he will

work through you to do great things so

instead of building a monument to prove

that I'm who I think I should be I can

build an altar and worship God and say

God it's not about my strength it's

about my weakness so that the power of

God can be manifest in me now we are

about to do a baptism here and in this

moment of baptism people are being

faithful to God

some people approached me and said I'm

not sure I'm good enough to get baptized

yet I'm not sure I'm good enough yet and

I tell you well do you believe in Jesus

as your Lord and Savior I mean if you

really given your heart to him you're

born again you believe in Jesus yes he's

forgiven your sins yes then you are

ready to get baptized