In a culture where there are hand sanitizer pumps everywhere (and we are encouraged to use them!) we are in fear of contact with germs. We wear bike helmets, because we fear getting in a wreck and hitting our heads. We don’t eat French fries very often for fear we will clog our arteries and have a heart attack. We are a society controlled by our fears. We look toward fear more often than we look toward God.
This past Sunday we learned about a man named Gideon who was (by most standards) a very unlikely hero. Gideon was hand picked by the Lord to lead the Israelites into victory against the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples, who had consistently raided them every harvest for seven years. Gideon, who also looked toward fear, questioned God’s choice and pointed out why he was the worst man for the job.
Gideon used the excuses that he was from the smallest tribe, from the least of the families and the youngest in his family
Still God wanted Gideon, because he had big plans for this unlikely hero. God showed Gideon in many ways how he would defeat the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples. God patiently walked with Gideon from a life of fear to a life of faith.
Fear is defined as the distressing emotion we experience when we realize that the circumstances are beyond our control.
We experience fear (just as Gideon did) when we experience situations over which we have little control or when we are forced to step outside of our comfort zones. Living in fear is safe – but boring.
Conversely, faith is looking to God and living in response to Who He is.
The great theologian, A.W. Tozer once stated that faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our vision and getting God into focus. Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding. Unbelief [fear] has put self where God should be…Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line.
God was in the process of proving Himself to Gideon by whittling down his army and his resources to less then ten percent of that of the Midianites, Amalekites and the other eastern peoples. God wanted Gideon to realize that the only way victory would come to the Israelites was through their faith in Him. God was removing any of Gideon’s advantages and self-reliance and forcing him to have faith in God as the army moved forward to defeat their adversaries.
Gideon’s 300 men who had faith in God were more powerful than the other 31,700 who were looking toward self and only found fear.
In the midst of humanly impossible circumstances that were outside of the control of Gideon and his men, they marched forward with faith. If they had allowed fear to control them, they would have gone back home to their caves and their holes in the mountain. Instead, their faith in God drove them forward to victory!
So what can we learn from all of this?
We experience fear (just as Gideon did) when we experience situations over which we have little control or when we are forced to step outside of our comfort zones. Living in fear is safe – but boring.
Conversely, faith is looking to God and living in response to Who He is.
The great theologian, A.W. Tozer once stated that faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our vision and getting God into focus. Sin has twisted our vision inward and made it self-regarding. Unbelief [fear] has put self where God should be…Faith looks out instead of in and the whole life falls into line.
God was in the process of proving Himself to Gideon by whittling down his army and his resources to less then ten percent of that of the Midianites, Amalekites and the other eastern peoples. God wanted Gideon to realize that the only way victory would come to the Israelites was through their faith in Him. God was removing any of Gideon’s advantages and self-reliance and forcing him to have faith in God as the army moved forward to defeat their adversaries.
Gideon’s 300 men who had faith in God were more powerful than the other 31,700 who were looking toward self and only found fear.
In the midst of humanly impossible circumstances that were outside of the control of Gideon and his men, they marched forward with faith. If they had allowed fear to control them, they would have gone back home to their caves and their holes in the mountain. Instead, their faith in God drove them forward to victory!
So what can we learn from all of this?
Take Away 1: Fear blames God while faith obeys God.
Take Away 2: Fear is self-reliant while faith is God reliant.
Take Away 3: Fear will paralyze while faith will mobilize.
Take Away 4: Fear turns us into control freaks while faith allows God to have control.
Take Away 5: Fear stunts growth while faith produces growth.
Take Away 6: Fear keeps us safe while faith takes us to dangerous places.
Max Lucado has stated that when fear shapes our lives, safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. The worship of safety emasculates greatness.
Gideon was an unlikely hero because he moved from a life of fear to a life of faith. We wouldn’t know anything about him if he had continued to live a cowardly life in fear.
As Christians, we will go through troubling, uncertain and difficult times. Make no mistake, we should not ignore fear, but we should also not let it control us. As followers of Christ, our lives are not defined by the absence of such circumstances. Instead, our lives are defined by how we respond in such circumstances…
Either give into fear, or turn toward faith. ~MP
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