Friends, today I have the privilege of sharing God's word with you. And I want to apologize right away for any mistakes I make or words I pronounce wrongly.
To make it easier for you and me, I will follow one Bible story. It is the story of Gideon. I want to share with you a few thoughts from his story that I believe will help you build your life in the new year.
To establish contact and lighten the mood a little, let me first share a quote by Mark Twain. "When I was fourteen, my father was so stupid that I could hardly stand him; but when I was twenty-one, I was amazed at how much wiser that old man had become in the last seven years."
I hope that my daughters will also think that their dad gets smarter over the years. This will be the evidence that they themselves are getting smarter. Why do I remember this quote? Because it's pretty much the same thing that happens when we read the Bible. As the years go by, we realize how much wisdom it has for our lives. And that our Heavenly Father is right and very wise!
The Bible is very practical and I want to give you, not just the story of Gideon, but the practical lessons that you can take with you to build your best life that will glorify the Lord. And I want to reinforce the word Pastor Ron gave about the importance of taking the next step in the new year!
Before we read from the Bible, let me give a brief context of what is happening in the nation of Israel at this time. At this time, the people of Israel were slaves to the Midianites. They took their crops, their livestock so that they did not even have anything to eat. The Bible says that they became poor. In order to somehow save themselves, they fled to the mountains and hid in caves. They took food supplies with them and tried to save their lives this way. And so Gideon also hid in a winepress where they made wine, and beat out grains of wheat for him to eat.
And then an Angel comes ... By the way, you know that in the midst of all our difficulties and problems, God is always near? That He sees everything? Doesn't leave? And He wants to act... but why doesn't He act? - someone might ask. This is what we're going to talk about today - how can you see more of His miracles? So, the Angel comes to Gideon.
“Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Gideon said to Him, “O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.””
Judges 6:11-16 NKJV
What does the Angel say when he greets Gideon? Two facts:
1) God is with you
2) You are strong
And further into their dialogue, we see that what the Angel says about Gideon is not how Gideon sees himself.
And here are the first two truths:
GOD SEES YOU DIFFERENTLY THAN THE WAY YOU DO.
God sees you as strong, capable, and gifted for great victories in life. He sees you as the anointed one with whom God Himself will walk on his best day.
GOD SEES YOUR SITUATION DIFFERENTLY FROM THE WAY YOU DO.
And let's look at Gideon, try to understand what he's thinking and feeling. In this dialogue with an Angel, we can see his state of mind. His state of mind is much like what many of us experience today. And if we understand what helped him to see miracles, we will find lessons for ourselves to see miracles.
Look, Gideon disagreed with the Angel, he argued with him.
Gideon doubted that God was with him. He said, “If the Lord is with us, then why did this disaster happen to us?” (Verse 13) In other words, “if God is really with me, then why is everything so bad in my life?!” … Where is He then? Where is the God of miracles?
Gideon reasons like many people do today. It seemed to him then, like many now, that if God is with me, then everything should automatically be fine. But this is not so. In the life of a Christian there may be difficulties, sorrows, problems… but God is with him to go through and emerge victorious!
GOD'S BLESSINGS DON'T MEAN THE ABSENCE OF PROBLEMS, IT MEANS THAT YOU GET THROUGH THE PROBLEMS.
And here is another question that Gideon asked the Angel. A question that I often hear in churches, everywhere I go. And that question is the title of our sermon today
WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES? (Verse 13)
In other words, Gideon says, if God exists and loves me and He is with me, why doesn't He do anything?
And today, as then, there is this question - where is the God of miracles? How can I see miracles in my life? How can I see His power and might? I hope you want to see this too?
And then Gideon stops asking questions, and he concludes ...
He says: Now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. ... And know what… I also hear despair and disappointment in Gideon's words. God has forsaken me... God is no longer with me... He does not help me... He has given me over to sickness, poverty, failure, loneliness....
Maybe you've heard people say God has forsaken me... God doesn't need me... I don't know if God even exists... And if He does, does He care about me....
Look at this contradiction: The angel says: God is with you. Gideon says: God has forsaken. Why did Gideon think that? Because he judged God by the situation.
DON'T JUDGE GOD BY YOUR SITUATION.
- When we are in trouble, we think that God is far away
- When we are in difficulties, we think that we have been abandoned by Him
- When we lose something, we think that He is angry with us
Gideon judged God based on his poverty... but it was God in His boundless love who came down to him in the person of His messenger (Angel) to save him and his people.
And now we come to the point... How can we see His miracles? And you want to know the secret?
The Lord, looking at him, said: Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites; (Judges 6:14)
I am sending you.
And may I stop here for a moment... let's try to imagine...The Angel of the Lord spoke to Gideon... Gideon wanted a miracle... Who should perform the miracle?
The Angel did not perform the miracle! The Angel sent Gideon! Gideon was supposed to be the activator of the miracle! Go - says the Angel. In other words, if you want a miracle - start changing something! And you need to start changing yourself first!
IF YOU ARE ONLY READY TO ASK FOR A MIRACLE, BUT NOT READY TO ACT FOR A MIRACLE, THEN YOU ARE NOT READY FOR A MIRACLE!
The Angel says not just: go, but go with this strength of yours! Gideon again began to contradict the Angel. How strong am I? I am the weakest and the poorest of all the people. But in order to decide to fight for a better future, you need to see yourself as strong!
TO GO TO YOUR BEST DAY, YOU NEED TO SEE YOURSELF STRONG AND CAPABLE!
And the same power that Gideon had, each of us has. This power was not in his physical or mental abilities, he didn't have a large army, he didn't have wealth.You might say he had nothing for a miracle and yet God saw in him the potential for a miracle. And that potential, that power, is in each of us!
What strength was the Angel talking to him about?
I believe the Angel was talking about the following two main things:
1) God is with me!
I AM STRONG BECAUSE THE STRONG GOD IS WITH ME
“And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”” Judges 6:16 NKJV
The first power we must always remember is that GOD IS WITH ME! It doesn't depend on the situation, it doesn't depend on the feeling... God is with me!
Can you proclaim it with me?
“He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”” Psalms 91:15-16 NKJV
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”
Isaiah 43:2 NKJV
2) But also, because the angel says: go in this your might...
“Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”” Judges 6:14 NKJV
I read and thought that it is not only about God ... it seems to me that it is about another quality that Gideon had, and which everyone who wants to see miracles needs ... Do you want to know what this quality is?
WHAT POWER DID GIDEON HAVE?
He was disappointed, but still wanted miracles!
I see this desire for miracles in his questions... When he asks: “Where are all His miracles?” I hear not only disappointment, but a desire to see them! He recalls his fathers who saw miracles in Egypt, and I'm sure there is a longing / thirst/ hunger/ desire within him to see the same miracles in his generation!
- He was disappointed, but he didn't lose hope!
- He was disappointed, but he was still ready for a new step!
- He was disappointed, but he still had a dream in him for a better future!
GOD SHOWS MIRACLES TO THE MAN WHO LONGS FOR MIRACLES. YOU CAN BE DISAPPOINTED, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE HELPLESS!
Can I talk a little bit about the problem of disappointment?
Disappointment is the result of unfulfilled expectations:
- When you expected one thing, but another happened.
- When you prayed, but did not receive an answer to your prayer.
- You planned one thing, but everything did not go according to plan, and something completely different happened.
- You wanted to get admitted to the university, but did not get in.
- You wanted to get married, but he proposed to another ...
- You thought the children would take care of you, but they do not even call you ...
And I am almost sure that each of you has been at this point of disappointment.
I personally have been there more than once! And you know what… In such periods, I did not want to listen to people's testimonies. They got a miracle, and you didn't... and you wonder what's wrong with me... I also didn't like people who told me what to do, how to believe, proclaim your faith, declare an answer, visualize the future... as if I had not done it!!!
The biggest disappointment is when you really did everything right, but still didn't get an answer. When your miracle is on hold, and it's not because of sin, or unbelief, or anything else…
People love to talk about why someone didn't receive their miracle. A person who wasn't disappointed is unlikely to understand someone who was. And in our churches, we often hear testimonies of those who received a miracle, but we know that there are those sitting in the audience who give and do everything correctly, but their miracle is still being delayed.
So what should such people do?
Let me start by saying what NOT TO DO…
You can't let your frustration / disappointment become your helplessness!
DISAPPOINTMENT CANNOT TURN INTO HELPLESSNESS.
There is a psychological concept called learned helplessness syndrome. I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. This phenomenon was discovered by American psychologist Martin Seligman in 1967. He conducted experiments on dogs, and later the results were confirmed in studies involving people.
The point of the experiment was that the dogs were offered the following sequence:
- First, a sound was made
- After it, they were given a small but uncomfortable electric shock
The dogs understood this sequence: sound - shock... and at first they wanted to avoid the shock, but their cage was closed and they could not get out and received an electric shock.
Then the cages were opened and the scientists expected that when the dogs heard the sound, they would understand that the next step was to receive an electric shock and escape through the open door, but they whined and remained in the cage, receiving an electric shock.
In other words, they were so used to the fact that there was no way out that they did not even try. Their negative experience led them to helplessness.
A long period of inability to change anything in your life leads people to the point where they are not just disappointed with their situation, but they become helpless to change anything.
From a Christian perspective, we would say that they have lost faith and even hope.
But here's what we see in Gideon, he was disappointed, but in him was still alive with hope for the best. He believed that change was possible! Yes, he may be disappointed, but he still wanted to see a miracle! He asked: WHERE ARE ALL HIS MIRACLES? ...
He has not forgotten the miracles of the Bible, his spiritual fathers, he was ready for something to happen in his generation!
I want to ask you today - do you want your miracle? Are you ready to go for its implementation?
You can't let the failures of the past make you believe that it's impossible to make a difference in the future.
The example with fleas in a jar - VIDEO. (If we have time for it).
A person who has fallen into helplessness is not able to move forward!
GO AND SAVE! - the Angel called Gideon.
MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN WE MOVE, NOT WHEN WE COMPLAIN!
The obstacles and difficulties of life make us think that something is impossible, but we are the ones to decide our boundaries of possibilities! Will we continue to believe in miracles and take another step?
Let me give you an example from the Gospels before I finish.
Mark. 10 - Bartimaeus
Perhaps this is my favorite story from the Gospels.
Imagine a blind man sitting along the road leading to Jerusalem. And there are many people passing by. And then one day he heard that Jesus was coming. He had already heard about Him and he believed that This is the promised Messiah.
He began to make his way to Jesus with a huge crowd. He had to shout to be heard and noticed among thousands of people. Many tried to force him to shut up and tried to sit him down. But he threw off his old clothes, in which he begged for alms, and began to shout even louder: JESUS SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!
Jesus kept moving… He kept on shouting…
Isn’t it strange that Jesus didn’t stop right away? … God needs us to keep crying out to Him, not because He doesn’t hear, but because He wants to know how much you want a change! How much you believe in it!
At some point, the whole crowd stopped and turned to Bartimaeus… They brought him to Jesus… He can’t even see Him… And Jesus asked the most (forgive me) stupid question… but it can’t be stupid, because Jesus was the one that asked it … He asked WHAT DO YOU WANT?
The question seems stupid to me, because the answer seems too obvious. But there is wisdom in it... Jesus asks about desire because... UNTIL THERE IS NO STRONG DESIRE FOR CHANGE, THERE WILL BE NO CHANGE ITSELF! ... Bartimaeus could have remained in his helplessness and disappointment, to which life had accustomed him. He probably tried many times to change something… But he did not remain helpless, he decided that he would try again… and he “jumped” out of his “jar”.
My call today:
- Try to take another step!
- Return to your dreams and desires, pray over them because God will use them!
- Go, take the next step, because MIRACLES HAPPEN WHEN WE MOVE, NOT WHEN WE COMPLAIN!
And at the very end, I want to leave you with one verse that reveals our position in Christ.
The story of Gideon ended with him and his small troop of three hundred men surrounding the army of the enemy when they were at camp for the night. He uses a clever trick. He covered the burning torches with clay jugs, which at a certain point they broke and the enemies were frightened when they saw the light on the hands of the armies of Israel and heard how they started blowing their trumpets!
The Apostle Paul says, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
II Corinthians 4:7 NKJV
Before this, God left only three hundred men so that His people would not appropriate the glory of the victory to themselves. Sometimes God Himself will put us in a position where we find ourselves facing a great challenge with limited resources and few opportunities… But there is a glory within us that we carry within us. Victories do not come from us, but from the glory that is within us. You are not alone. And your victories are not yours, we are just clay vessels. We only crush ourselves in obedience, overcoming fear and uncertainty and say: “Here I am, use me!” We want a miracle and take a step, and God gives a great victory!
I want to summarize what I said in one sentence, answering the question WHERE ARE ALL HIS Miracles?
BELIEVE IN GOD, REGARDLESS OF YOUR ABILITIES, TAKE THE NEXT STEP AND GOD WILL BE WITH YOU, DOING HIS MIRACLES!
