INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• There are times in life when all is going well, we are cruising down the highway of life at breakneck speed then all the sudden sometimes out of nowhere life throws us a curve.
• What do we do? We sometimes negotiate the curve and others times we crash and burn.
• When hit the curve what do we do? Many times we cry out for help because we feel an impending sense of doom.
• Other times we seem to spend life of the curve trying to keep our lives on the road.
• Today we are going to look in the book of Judges Chapters 6 and 7.
• In these two chapters you will gain some insights to some things that you need to know when life throws you a curve.
• Here is the set up.
• The nation of Israel was in the throes of oppression, this time at the hands of the Midianites. The nation had enjoyed close to 40 years’ worth of prosperity and peace after Jabin had delivered them from the last oppression.
• Near the end of the 40 years, the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Now they were in the middle of 7 years of oppression at the hands of the Midianites.
• Each year during the harvest according to Judges 6:3-6, the Midian’s along with their allies would sweep into Israel and take all the grain and livestock they could take, thus ruining the harvest for the nation.
• It was so bad that people were hiding in the caves, in the mountains and other hidden strong holds. Judges 6:2
• The nation was at a low point and they felt abandoned by God and they did not know what to do. Have you ever felt that way? They were so absorbed by the problem that the people could not see what to do in order to fix it.
• Verses 6-7 tell us the nation cried out to God for help, much longer on this curve would cause them all to crash.
• Today we will examine some truths we should embrace when life throws us a curve.
• SLIDE #2
When life throws you a curve you need to understand…
SERMON
I. GOD knows the root of the PROBLEM- 6:1-10
• How many times do we find ourselves in a situation where we really do not see what got us unto the situation, or maybe down deep we knew why things were happening but we did not want to admit it?
• The nation had to know why they were in the throes of oppression; it is not like it had never happened before.
• Nevertheless the people were distraught. Verse six told us that the nation was at a low point.
• It has amazed me in my own life how many times I would be in the middle of something while not really wanting to acknowledge the real root issue. How many times has this happened with money?
• When I worked in the factory, I used to think that I needed to make more money. I thought more money would take care of the financial issues I was facing.
• It never occurred to me (really I did not want to admit) that my lack of discipline was the reason for any money issues we had at the time.
• The nation cried out to God. What did God do? He came in and immediately pushed the oppressors out of the county! WRONG.
• SLIDE #3
• Judges 6:8–10 (HCSB) 8 the LORD sent a prophet to them. He said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery. 9 I delivered you from the power of Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 10 I said to you: I am Yahweh your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land you live in. But you did not obey Me.’ ”
• God gave them an answer in a strange way.
• I do not know about you, but if I need to get rid of these oppressors wouldn’t you rather have God send an army or have God go Promised Land on the Midians?
• But instead God sent an unnamed prophet to let the nation know WHY they were having the problems they were facing.
• God did not give the people what they wanted, but instead what they needed. They needed to know why the oppression was happening
• In order to fix a problem, we need to know what the real problem is. If I thought my money problems resulted from a lack of money instead of a lack of discipline, as soon as I would get more money, I would just face more problems until I took care of the real issue.
• For the Israelites, the real issue was not the oppression, but instead their lack of obedience towards God.
• God knows what the root of your problem is. This will allow the real issue to be addressed!
• SLIDE #4
When life throws you a curve you need to understand…
II. God knows your abilities.
• Let’s look at what God was about to do.
• SLIDE #5
• Judges 6:11–16 (HCSB) 11 The Angel of the LORD came, and He sat under the oak that was in Ophrah (OFF-RA), which belonged to Joash, the Abiezrite (A-by-az-arite). His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the wine vat in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 Then the Angel of the LORD appeared to him and said: “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon said to Him, “Please Sir, if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened? And where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about? They said, ‘Hasn’t the LORD brought us out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to Midian.” 14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?” 15 He said to Him, “Please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? Look, my family is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 “But I will be with you,” the LORD said to him. “You will strike Midian down as if it were one man.”
• God is about to offer a solution for the people through a most unlikely source. We do not know what attracted God to Gideon.
• An angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and more or less tells Gideon he is the solution to the problem the nation is facing.
• When Gideon is called by God, Gideon challenges the angel in verse 13. He wants to know why they are in the shape they are in and why God has done nothing about it.
• The angel tells Gideon that Gideon in going to deliver the nation.
• Gideon does not feel qualified to be one to lead the nation out of oppression.
• Gideon had many strikes against him. He was the youngest son; in a family the youngest son was not usually very highly esteemed. He was from an obscure family (Verse 15). Not only that but Gideon’s father is part of the problem, he was an idolater himself (Judges 6:28).
• Even with all the strikes against him, God knew Gideon’s capabilities. Notice in verse 12 the angel calls him a valiant warrior. This is kind of a strange greeting considering there was a good possibility Gideon was hiding while beating out the wheat lest it got taken from him.
• It was time for Gideon to quit feeling helpless and start feeling empowered! The angel tells Gideon in verse 14 to: “Go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the power of Midian. Am I not sending you?”
• When we get into difficult situations, we forget that God knows what we can and cannot do. God will not call us to do what we cannot do unless He is going to be there with us. We MUST remember
• SLIDE #6
• 1 John 4:4 (HCSB) 4 You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
• No matter how small, insignificant, young or old you are, God can use you for great things!
• When life throws you a curve you need to understand…
• SLIDE #7
III. God will give you the confidence to follow through with the tough choices that are needed.
• When we have issues in our lives that need attention, there are times that God will lead us to do some tough things, to make some tough choices.
• Before Gideon could cleanse the nation of its’ idolatry, Gideon was going to have to do some house cleaning of his own first.
• SLIDE #8
• Judges 6:25–27 (HCSB) 25 On that very night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old. Then tear down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Build a well-constructed altar to the LORD your God on the top of this rock. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took 10 of his male servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it in the daytime, he did it at night.
• Gideon was called to clean up his house. Gideon was willing but afraid to do it so he did it at night.
• Many times the road to recovery starts with us. I wonder how many times we really know this but are unwilling to face it.
• Sometimes God will lead us to do things that are not popular with other people.
• In verses 28-30 we see the people were so angry when they figured out it was Gideon who did the deed, they wanted his father to turn him over to them so they could kill him.
• It is interesting how Gideon’s father defended Gideon. He says that if Baal is real, Baal will take care of it.
• GOOD RESPONSE!
• The people were not too happy with what Gideon did, but it had to be done. Sometimes you will need to do some things that are not popular, but they are things that need to be done.
• When we are called to do some drastic things, God will give us the confidence we need to accomplish the task at hand.
• After Gideon took the stand and decided to obey God, he gained confidence.
• When the Midians heard about what happened, they gathered all their allies and Gideon send messengers out to build his army to go up against them. (Judges 6;32-35)
• In verses 36-40 Gideon is not quite convinced he the man for the job so he asks God for a sign.
• SLIDE #9
• Judges 6:36–40 (HCSB)36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You said, 37 I will put a fleece of wool here on the threshing floor. If dew is only on the fleece, and all the ground is dry, I will know that You will deliver Israel by my strength, as You said.” 38 And that is what happened. When he got up early in the morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung dew out of it, filling a bowl with water. 39 Gideon then said to God, “Don’t be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me to make one more test with the fleece. Let it remain dry, and the dew be all over the ground.” 40 That night God did as Gideon requested: only the fleece was dry, and dew was all over the ground.
• Gideon still lacked a bit of confidence. He asked God to show him a sign. Gideon put out the fleece. Notice that God did not scold Gideon for a lack of faith, but instead He did what Gideon asked, not only once, but twice!
• I know when I have had to face some tough choices in life and I felt God was leading me one way, I have “put out the fleece” asking God for a conformation.
• God gave Gideon the confidence he needed to accomplish the task at hand.
• God will do the same for you if you seek Him.
• SLIDE #10
• When life throws you a curve you need to understand…
IV. God will give you victory when you trust Him!
• How many times has God bailed you out of something or helped you in a time of need only for you to take the credit and forget what God had done for you?
• In Chapter 7:1-4, Gideon has an army an army of over 32,000 men respond to his call. IF you had 32,000 plus men, would you feel a bit more confident in your chances?
• God told Gideon He had too many people in the army so it was time to reduce the number.
• SLIDE #11
• Judges 7:2–3 (HCSB) 2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many people for Me to hand the Midianites over to you, or else Israel might brag: ‘I did it myself.’ 3 Now announce in the presence of the people: ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 of the people turned back, but 10,000 remained.
• God did not want Israel taking the credit for something they did not do.
• Well, 22,000 left with the first test. Well, 10,000 is not too bad.
• God said, “Too many”. So God told Gideon to have the men drink at the river and separate the ones who lap the water like dogs from the ones who kneel to drink. (7:5-8)
• Now Gideon has a whopping 300 people left.
• How were 300 men going to defeat several thousand of the enemy? It could only be God.
• Sometimes things will not get better for us until we are ready to rely on God.
• DO you think Gideon would have been successful if he would have told God He was crazy and went to battle with the 32,000 men? Do you think you will succeed if you do the same?
• THE BATTLE BELONGS TO THE LORD
• How many times have we tried to go out to battle on our own?
• Through this whole process, did God expect Gideon to do battle without Him? Did God expect Gideon to defeat the Midians without His help?
• NO!
• Does God want you to do battle on your own with Him? NO! Gideon was victorious with only 300 men!
• Always remember, the battle belongs to the Lord. You are not going it alone! Gideon did the impossible with 300 men and the Lord.
CONCLUSION
• When we are having trouble in our lives, know that God is with you.
• Do not wait until all seems lost to go to God. Start with Him.
• Gideon was a man whom would not have been chosen to lead the nation out of oppression, but God knew there was something special about him.
• When we start realizing that through God we have power and strength, nothing will defeat us! We will stand strong and we will realize that the battle belongs to the Lord!
