MAKING AN IMPACT

What on earth is God doing? Is God interested in Planet Earth? Does He even get time to take a glance in our direction? Could He possibly want to involve me in some way to fulfill His purposes?

Have you ever asked questions like this?

There is an Old Testament story that some of us may remember from Sunday School. It’s the story of Gideon - we even sang a song: “Brave Gideon had three hundred men, the Midianites had a host.” This story tells us something about God at work on earth. It has more to say about Him, in fact, than about Gideon! If you wonder what your future is going to look like...if you have wondered whether God could use you, then what we will consider here is for you.

Read: Judges 6:1-16

Gideon - brave, no way! When we meet him in Judges 6 he is nervously thrashing in his father’s winepress the little wheat that the marauding Midianites had left behind. The Israelites were having a hard time with the Midianites who had teamed up with two other armies. Every year during their seven year oppression they would attack - no one had been able to break the pattern before. Usually wheat was thrashed out in the open in the wind, but he is hiding away inside. What is encouraging for me is that God often chooses unlikely people to advance His cause in the world!

Check out for a moment how God prepares Gideon:-

He sends an angel who calls him a mighty hero (6:11,21) - referring to what he would become. God saw latent qualities of leadership lurking within Gideon. His might would come from a mighty God (6:14). He shows a crippling sense of inadequacy and a misunderstanding of God’s method. God wanted to use him because he was from a small family(6:15).
This message leaves Gideon with doubt and unbelief (6:13). Remember, the Midianites had teamed up with two other armies, and for the first documented time in history they use camels in their attack. Gideon asks God for three signs and is granted each one (6:17,38,40).
God first called Gideon to make a difference at home first - to desecrate the shrine and altar of Ball on his father’s property, to demolish the surrounding grove and erect an altar to God and offer one of his father’s bulls on it as a sacrifice (6:25,26). To obey this would be dangerous (6:27 - he did it at night!)- he would be rebuking his father and the relatives and neighbours who worshipped at the shrine would not be thrilled.

His personal courage, religious belief and family loyalty were all challenged. His actions nearly got him killed, but his father was influenced by Gideon’s faith. This was a preparation for a stiffer battle - the offensive of the Midianites, Amalekites and “children of the east”. But God planned a counter-offensive with Gideon at its centre (6:34,35). Literally: “The spirit of the Lord clothed himself with Gideon.” Or as one writer has said: “The Spirit of the Lord became incarnate in Gideon, who then became the extension of the Lord.”

Gideon’s battle plan: His 32 000 men would fight the 135 000 strong army. But God says they have too many men (7:2). Despite the illogicality of this approach he obeys (7:10). God sends him a dream to calm his fears (7:13-15).

Notice how God selects the troops for battle:-

God, not Gideon selects the favourite warriors
God looked for quality, not quantity in His army. They were handpicked for their discipline, alertness and courage.
The tests God used: (a) timidity (7:3) - 22000 men slipped away - those without a heart for battle. (b) discipline (7:4-7) - only 300 remained behind - those who kept an eye on the enemy while they drank.

These 300 men would fight against 135000 - outnumbered 450 to 1. Militarily, this would be suicide! To add to this absurd situation, these men would not take weapons to fight, but fragile pitchers, flaming torches and trumpets. Today we would call this psychological warfare. The men were divided into three groups of a 100 men who approached the enemy camp from different directions. At the pre-arranged signal, each broke the pitcher to reveal the torch and blew their trumpets. The surprise attack, the lights coming from all directions and the blaring of the trumpets threw the Midianites into such confusion and panic that they killed each other (7:21). As a result the land was liberated from the oppressors.

What are the implications of this story? What message can you take away with you?

God is at work in the world. He is concerned about people and wants to use people to reach them.
One person can influence a whole nation when controlled by the spirit of God. That person does not need to come from a significant family. They do not even need to be fearless. But they do need to obey God’s leading and be willing to risk all for Christ!!!
It is only when that person is aware of their weakness that God can use them - not before. As long as I rely on my strength, I will be a hopeless failure. But when I look to Him and His strength, the possibilities are endless.

There is a special message to those who are serving God hidden in this text:-

The consciousness of God’s commission - “Am I not sending you?” (6:14)
The consciousness of divine companionship - “I will be with you” (6:15)

Note the parallel to Matthew 28:18,20.

How are you going to respond? I challenge you to make yourself available to be used by God. The lyrics of a Petra Song contained the lines: I am available, I will go when you say go... If you have this attitude then I challenge you to respond to God’s call to serve Him. I don’t know when or how He’ll choose to use you, but I know that if you are available you will be used to make a difference in your home, school, community, nation or even the world.

Written by Mark Tittley: Email

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