05.10. Overcoming our Fears- Gideon
Overcoming our Fears-Gideon
Judges 6:1 ff Most of us live with a fear of something. Very few live life without fear. One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small son into bed. She was about to turn the light off when he asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave him a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can’t dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." A long silence followed. At last it was broken by a shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"
Source unknown
Many times our fear are more in the mind that anywhere. Many times they are irrational. For instance:
Louis Pasteur is reported to have had such an irrational fear of dirt and infection he refused to shake hands. President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison were so intimidated by the newfangled electricity installed in the White House they didn’t dare touch the switches. If there were no servants around to turn off the lights when the Harrisons went to bed, they slept with them on. Jane Goodsell, Not a Good Word About Anybody, Ballantine We have names for our fears. We often call them phobias. There are a number of these.
· Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people.
· Chaetophobia: fear of hairy people.
· Porphyrophobia: fear of the color purple.
· Auroraphobia: fear of the northern lights.
· Thalassophobia: fear of being seated.
· Stabisbasiphobia: fear of standing and walking.
· Odontophobia: fear of teeth.
· Graphophobia: fear of writing in public.
· Phobophobia: fear of being afraid.
From Nothing to Fear, by Fraser Kent, Doubleday & Company, 1977. Over time what people are afraid of has changed. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University reported that 30 years ago, the greatest fears of grade school children were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. Today, kids are afraid of the following: 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged. Back to the Bible Today, Summer, 1990, p. 5.
I- Spirit of Fear:
Do we as God’s children need to live in a constant state of fear? There are many who are afraid every minute of every day of some great tragedy coming into their life. Death, illness, victim of crime, etc.
2 Timothy 1:6-8 "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God..."
So is it sin to worry? Is it sin to live in fear? At the least if it is not sin it a small faith. Our hero today can teach us about overcoming our fear. Many times overcoming our fears is not the absence of them but doing what needs done in the face of them.
I have a friend who has asked me to help him write a book on witnessing. He said, "I have had a burden about not witnessing enough. I know for a fact that most Christians do NOT witness, mainly because they are afraid/uncomfortable." (David Gooch email 11/1/06) II- Gideon the Coward: Judges 6:1-6 ; Judges 6:11
Our hero today is introduced to us in Scriptures as, no other way to say it, a coward. The conditions to be honest with you were very oppressive. Notice how it reads in the HCSB. Judges 6:1-6 The Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the LORD. So the LORD handed them over to Midian seven years, 2 and they oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites, and the eastern peoples came and attacked them. 4 They encamped against them and destroyed the produce of the land, even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox or donkey. 5 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their camels were without number, and they entered the land to waste it. 6 So Israel became poverty stricken because of Midian, and the Israelites cried out to the LORD. So the times were hard and the oppression was great. So why did I call Gideon a coward? Perhaps it is to strong of a statement. In Judges 1:7-9 we are told of a prophet that tells Israel God is going to deliver them. Notice now who He is going to use. Judges 6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. Gideon was hiding from the enemy when the angel of the Lord came. We can certainly see that he has a lot to overcome to be used of God. Notice with me a few lessons or principles that can help us to overcome our fears and be used of God.
III- God Knows our Potential: Judges 6:12
We do not have to live up to others expectations, or even our own. We only need to live up to God’s expectations and God sees our potential when others may not. I have always loved the way that God referred to Gideon when we are first introduced to him while he was hiding.
Judges 6:12 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
Deion "Prime Time" Sanders, outfielder for the Atlanta Braves and cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, is the only athlete to have hit a Major League home run and scored an NFL touchdown in the same week. Sanders grew up on the mean streets of Fort Myers, Fla., where exposure to some would-be athletes spurred him to make a success of himself. He explains: "I call them Idas. ’If I’da done this, I’d be making three million today…If I’da practiced a little harder, I’d be a superstar.’ They were as fast as me when they were kids, but instead of working for their dreams they chose drugs and a life of street corners. When I was young, I had practice; my friends who didn’t went straight to the streets and never left. That moment after school is the moment we need to grab. We don’t need any more Idas. Mike Lupica in Esquire
When God looks at us He does not see us as we are but as He wants to make us. We are reminded by Jeremiah’s trip to the potter’s house that we are in God’s hands to mold. Jeremiah 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
IV- Doesn’t Buy Our Excuses: Judges 6:14-16
Many men have overcome what seems like impossible odds and obstacles to achieve great things in life.
Irving Berlin, for instance, only had two years of formal schooling. He never learned how to read music. When he composed his songs, he would hum the melody and a musical secretary would write down the notes. He became one of the greatest songwriters the country has ever known. Bits and Pieces, December 13, 1990 When 16-year old Eliza married the 20-year old tailor, he had never been to school. Others might have written his education off as a lost cause, but Eliza didn’t. She taught him to read, write, and spell. Those days were difficult, but he proved to be a fast learner. In fact, he learned so well that years later he was elected president of the United States! When he ran for a second term he lost, but refused to give up. Instead, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate. Who? our 17th president, Andrew Johnson. Today in the Word, February, 1991, p. 33
Judges 6:14-16 And the LORD looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house. 16 And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man. Gideon had several excuses but God assured him that he could do it. God can overcomes our excuses. Many times we just someone to be honest with us and tell us to get on with it. So, get on with it.
V- Fear of Needed Change: Judges 6:25-26
Sometimes things need to change. Many times to overcome our fears we need to change. I know change should be a four letter word because it upsets us so much. Notice what God tells Gideon to do. By the way he does it at night because of fear. Judges 6:25-26 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it: 26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down. He kills his father’s yoke of oxen and sacrifices them on a new altar after he tore down the old altar. What altars in our life do we need to tear down? What altars are we afraid to tear down? I know some are saying, I don’t have any altars in my life. God tells us that anything that is between us and Him is an idol. Remember the 10 commandments say, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3 The men of the city wanted to kill him for this by the way. Change comes with a price.
VI- The Final Outcome Does Not Depend on Us: 7:2-3;6-7
Overcoming our fear should be made easier when we realize that the final outcome doesn’t depend on us. God eliminated any possibility of it being Gideon or his army that brought deliverance.
Judges 7:2-3 And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. 3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
His army already outnumbered has just lost 22,000 men and only 10,000 remain. But wait...God tells him to take the men down for a drink of water and he would tell him who was to stay.
Judges 7:6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. Now there is a whopping 300 left. Notice what God says to Gideon. Judges 7:7 And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place. This points out to us that God is the one who is charge of the victory not us.
VII- Sometimes We Need A Word of Encouragement: Judges 7:9 ff God tells Gideon that if he is still afraid to go down into the enemy camp and listen.
Judges 7:9 ff And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Arise, get thee down unto the host; for I have delivered it into thine hand. ...13 And when Gideon was come, behold, there was a man that told a dream unto his fellow, and said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and, lo, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the host of Midian, and came unto a tent, and smote it that it fell, and overturned it, that the tent lay along. 14 And his fellow answered and said, This is nothing else save the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel: for into his hand hath God delivered Midian, and all the host. 15 And it was so, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation thereof, that he worshipped, and returned into the host of Israel, and said, Arise; for the LORD hath delivered into your hand the host of Midian.
Beloved let me give us all a word of encouragement today. I will close with these verses.
Revelation 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
We are with Him according to Judges 1:14-15 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all..."