From Judges 6:17-24

In Church, we think, “My oppression, fear, doubt and questions have no place with God.” We don’t lay these at God’s feet because we think God only wants to “defeat a vast army with 300 men” version of us.

Well, the only thing wrong with this is the people of faith in the Bible dealt with oppression, fear, doubt and questions…

Gideon lived in fear.
Abraham laughed at God.
Moses questioned God.
Jeremiah flat out told God he deceived him when God called him to ministry.
Peter sank when he doubted while walking on water.

We have a SportsCenter faith. Show the amazing highlights…yet forget the years of practice, sweat and toil it takes to make the amazing catch or hit the 500 foot homer to win the game.

None of the above saw God do the amazing the first time they took a baby step towards God’s vision. Through Gideon’s story, we see how we can use our oppression, fear, doubt and questions to take the first baby step of faith.

In sacrifice, take the most logical baby step possible.

Before God defeated a vast army with 300 men, Gideon took a baby step with God with his oppression, fear, doubt and questions in tow.

Gideon did the most baseline thing possible…he worshipped God through sacrifice.

Maybe this is exactly what you need to do. Instead of sacrificing a young goat and bread, you sacrifice time and comfortability and go to a worship service or small group. You will have every reason why you shouldn’t. Your oppression, fear, doubt and questions will yell at you because they refuse to come into the Light.

But through your sacrifice, you will see God burn up what doesn’t belong!

Make the sacrifice to take the first baby step. Tell the voices to take a back seat to the cross of Christ. He sacrificed so you could be made in his image. Take a baby step so that God can remake you into the image of Christ.

Expect God to show up

When Gideon told the angel of the Lord (which really is the representation of God’s presence), to wait and he’ll be right back, the angel said, “I will stay till you return.”

Expect God to show up. And expect God to stick around. He will be there and be present with you. God will wait for you. He wants to prove his presence to you.

What will God showing up look like? I have no idea what God showing up will look like for you. I don’t even know what it will look like for me as I take my baby steps!

Here are a few examples…

For Gideon, God consumed the sacrifice through fire that came up from the rock.
For Elijah, God showed up in the whisper.
For Peter, Jesus showed up in an early morning breakfast and restoration.

God will show up. God will wait around. Expect it. Look for his presence. But do not assume you know what his presence will look like. God’s presence looks different for different people. He does this to keep us looking, waiting and praying.

God will give you Peace — Calm INSIDE Chaos.

When God revealed himself to Gideon, Gideon became very afraid. People don’t look upon a holy God and live to tell about it!

The angel told Gideon, “Peace be to you!” This is a message for Gideon in this time. Gideon needed Peace. Chaos swirled all around him. Enemies oppressed him. Gideon hid in fear. His own people worshipped foreign idols. Gideon thought God was not with them.

When God showed up, none of the circumstances changed. The different is with God’s presence. With God’s presence, Gideon had Peace inside chaos. Not peace from chaos.

We want the chaos to go away. We determine the amount of God’s presence in our lives by the lack of chaos in our life. If chaos, stress, anxiety exists, then God cannot be with me.

God’s Peace is different. Measure the amount of God’s presence by the amount of Peace we experience in the middle of all the chaos.

Humans thrive on chaos, disaster and negativity. We fuss about chaos. But we live off the adrenaline rush chaos provides.

You don’t have to live like everyone else. You can live in the middle of all the chaos with the Peace of God. The only way to find his Peace is to find his presence.

Make God’s presence a visible reminder.

Gideon built an altar to the Lord as a visible reminder God showed up in his life. Every time he saw the altar, he would remember God gave him Peace in the chaos.

You probably don’t want to set up rock altars all around your house. However, how can you make God’s presence visible? A visible reminder will help you not go back beyond the moment God found you.

When oppression, fear, doubt and questions start whispering, talking and shouting to you again, what can you build that reminds you of God’s faithfulness in every circumstance?

Stop pointing to the highlights of other people’s faith as the reason you can’t get unstuck. Your oppression, fear, doubt and questions DO NOT disqualify you from taking a step towards God’s vision. No one in Scripture lived this life! Every single one of the highlights in the Bible are built upon baby steps of faith towards the vision God had for their life.

What is the first baby step of sacrifice you can take towards God’s vision? Then, expect him to show up!