Interuppted By Destiny

“Interrupted by Destiny”

Text: Judges 6:1-16, 6:25-27; Psalms 37:23

Introduction:

I believe that there are 3 levels of living. The first is Survival. Too many of us are caught in this mode of living. We glamorize survival. We make game shows based on the idea of just getting back and just lasting. We say things like, “If I can just make it through the week. If I can just make it from service to service. If I can just make it from camp to camp. If I can just get through high-school and into college. If I can get from this paycheck until the next.” Survival.

The second level of living is success. We all want to be successful. We run after success as if it is the ultimate object of desire. Success is our number one all consuming goal and destination. But you can sale all the books, tapes, be on every television show, make the “big” time and still never be satisfied and content. Success is nothing more than a platform that God allows you to get on so that you can be heard and heeded. Success is nothing more than a catalyst to move you to the final level.

God desires for us and designed us to live at the third level of living, which is significance. God wants us to do more than survive or be successful. He has something significant for us to accomplish. He wants us to live at this level. We have a destiny and a purpose that must be fulfilled in order for us to live at the level that God desires for us.

Why I want to speak to you about being “Interrupted by Destiny.”

Prayer:

I. The Hiding

The setting is this: The Midianites had prevailed against the land of Israel for 7 years. Bondage had become so bad the children of Israel had begun to make houses and dens in the mountains to stay hidden from the Midianites. This is where we pick up the story. Gideon is hiding. The Word says that he is trying to thresh a little wheat and keep it from the Midianites. He is trying to be as stealthy as he can be. Don’t draw any attention. Hiding. Looking out for himself and his family. Minding his own business. Just trying to get what he needed to get by. SURVIVAL. But right in the middle of this he gets interrupted by destiny. Right in the middle of playing hide and seek destiny steps in and changes the course of his life. HE IS CALLED OUT OF SURVIVAL INTO SIGNIFICANCE. We have many accounts of men hiding, doing their own thing, and minding their own business when destiny comes calling. Moses is hiding on the back of a dessert when he is interrupted by a burning bush to be named a deliverer. Saul was hiding in the luggage when destiny interrupted and made him king. David was hiding as a cheese delivery boy when destiny called his name and he faced a giant. Paul was masquerading, hiding as an assassin when he was interrupted by destiny on the road to Damascus. Rachel Scott and Cassie Bernal were minding their own business. Unknowns. Hiding as normal teenagers when destiny interrupted their life.

Many of you are in this place. You are hiding. You are trying to just get by. Minding your own business. Trying not to attract too much attention. Doing your own thing. But I am here to declare that this morning you are being interrupted by destiny. You may have thought you are here on a fluke. You just came because your best friend came. You may just be visiting to get away from home for a weekend. It is just a good road trip. A mini-vacation. A chance to see the college babes or guys. A chance to miss a day of school. You may already have your whole life planned out. But the reality is that your steps have been ordered. This was a set up. You are being interrupted by destiny. This is no fluke. This is no accident. This isn’t just coincidence. God is speaking to you today. He is interrupting the course of your life. This weekend and this service is a divine appointment.

II. The Response

But we have to go back to the account because we are so much like Gideon. Listen to what happens when he is interrupted by destiny. God calls him Gideon a man of valor. Immediately Gideon begins to make excuses, “look at all that has happened. God can’t be with me.” “Look at how I was raised. I am poor. I was raised on the wrong side of the tracks. I didn’t have a dad at home. My parents don’t want me. I have been addicted. I have been messed up.”