Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
October 30, 2005 - W0544

Do miracles still happen? The Chicago Red Sox just won the World Series didn’t they? (And a clean sweep after 85 years to boot!) So do miracles still happen? Of course they do! Yet oftentimes we question whether miracles happen – and our faith, when we’re faced with challenges. When our prayers for miracles go unanswered, we wonder if God is there to help.

It’s important to understand that faith itself is built in and through overwhelming moments; for without challenges, faith will simply lay dormant. No matter how long we’ve been a Christian, God tests our faith from time to time to keep it growing. Being tested is part of our spiritual growth. The Bible shows us that in spite of our human frailty, we can be heroes of legendary faith.  In fact, the Bible provides examples of people hand-picked and tested by God, to show us how we can build our faith like those before us. Gideon was one such example “And what more shall I say? I do not have the time to tell about Gideon.....and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lion, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies” (Heb. 11:32-34). Like us, Gideon had fears and doubts. In fact, his faith broke down; however, the those challenges made Gideon’s faith grow and the Lord used Gideon to accomplish a great conquest.

The story is told in Jude, chapter 6. “Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites”. The Midianites were a fierce force and were in alliance with the Amalakites against the Israelites. The Israelites knew the Midianites were powerful so they made dens and caves for themselves in the mountains to take refuge when their enemies came. When the Midianites came against the Israelites, they destroyed Israel’s produce, sheep, ox, cattle and donkeys. “Median so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help” (Jud 6:6).

The power of Median prevailed against Israel for seven years. The people of Israel were agricultural people and the Midianites were cunning. Every year during harvest time, the Midianites attacked Israel. When they did, the Israelites left their harvest to hide and the Midianites stole the Israelite’s grain and produce, and destroyed their homes. The Israel people suffered and were oppressed.

GIDEON’S QUESTION:

For seven years, the Israelites cried out to the Lord but Gideon got upset and questioned God, “Then Gideon said to him, ‘...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...? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Median’” (Jud. 6:13). The strange thing we find in this passage is Gideon’s question in Jud. 6:13. What’s strange about Gideon’s question is that God had answered his question three verses earlier in Jud. 6:9-10.

GOD’S ANSWER:

“I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors...and gave you their land, and I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God...But you have not obeyed Me...’” (Jud. 6:9-10). So God had already told the Israelites why their enemy had overcome them. It was because of their disobedience.

Why would Gideon ask a question the Lord had already answered? Go figure…it’s as if Gideon had missed class or something! And yet, we too can be this way. How many times has the Lord spoken to us about certain things, yet we ignored it then wondered why everything was falling apart in our lives. Although we live in a contemporary generation, God’s truth is the same today as it was yesterday. It’s as if God is showing us that we should not be looking for new truths, but rather we should obey the old truths we already know.

Gideon wanted deliverance from the Midianites and God had a plan, but God needed to work in Gideon first so He could eventually work through him. The same is true for us when we ask for miracles. So where do we begin?

1.        GOD ALWAYS BEGINS WITH ME.

Catch this…when we ask for change, the Lord does not necessarily change the people, world or circumstances around us; oftentimes, He needs to work with us first…just like He did with Gideon. “The Lord looked at him and said, ‘Go...and deliver Israel from the hand of Median. Have I not sent you?’” (Jud. 6:14). The same goes for us. We need to understand that before God changes our circumstances, He may need to change us. Sure, we want the people and circumstances around us to change but that is not faith. God wants to get rid of the Midianites (so to speak) in our lives so take truths that God has given us and start there.

There are times when God doesn’t change circumstances – be it a job, a boss or a rebellious child – but instead, He will change me! When Jesus came into the world, the Israelites didn’t change until the very end but the Lord didn’t come into the world to change the religious leaders as much as to change the hearts of the people that were being oppressed by them. By the same token…look for God to start with us first.

When Gideon questioned the Lord, what did the Lord have Gideon do? “Now on the same night the Lord said to him,’...pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it’” (Jud. 6:25). In other words, rather than immediately destroy the enemies that were attacking the Israelites from the outside, God instructed Gideon go home and destroy his altar to Baal.  Why? Well, the Israelites had put up altars to Baal (a fertility god) and Asherah (a female deity that promoted illicit relations) in their homes. And when the Midianites attacked the Israelites, God told Gideon to get rid of the idols in his life and home as the first step in overcoming the Midianites. In other words, God was telling Gideon (and us) to begin dealing with the “Midianites” (or offenders) within…as the first step of overcoming those that are attacking us from the outside.

So for us, the Lord is telling us to begin with the truths He has already told us (the things we know to be right and wrong) and if we obey those truths, it will allow God to bring on the miracles. How many times we do things we know we shouldn’t do? These are the Midianite areas in our lives we need to be rid of. Remember that our adversary is a head hunter, our mind is the battle field, and our imagination is his trophy. If given the chance, he’ll harness our thought life and twist it to use in wrong ways. On the other hand, if we used our imaginations for the things of God, there would be nothing that the Church could not do!

So start at home and allow God to begin with us first, but realize…   

·      WE WILL BE TESTED.            

“Even gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire; and so your faith, which is much more precious than gold, must be tested, so that it may endure” (1Pet. 1:7 TEV). Having faith is wonderful but it is no good until it’s tested! We could talk about faith, pray about it, sing about it, write about it and fellowship with it but here the Lord tells us our faith is more precious than gold, and like gold, must be tested by fire that it may endure. 

For Gideon, his faith was tested as follows: “And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, “My own hand has saved me’” (Jud. 7:2). Gideon started 32,000 men to fight against the Midianites however the Lord tells him there’s too many men; he’ll need to downsize. God instructs Gideon tell anyone who is afraid to go home. Imagine Gideon’s response; nonetheless, he obeys and 22,000 go home. He’s now left with 10,000 men.

Yet again, the Lord tells Gideon he’s still got too many men. Gideon’s faith was being tested here. Would Gideon obey and trust the Lord? The Lord instructed Gideon to send the men to the water then send home all those who had their faces in the water. Can you believe 9,700 men had their faces in the water! After that, Gideon would be left with just 300 men to face about 40,000 Midianites!

At that point, Gideon had a choice…to go to battle or to bail out. It was at that moment that Gideon’s faith was tested. When we are being tested, our faith will either reveal our strength or God’s power so the next step in building our faith is a heart question…

·      “WILL I USE GOD OR SERVE HIM?                       

The lesson in this is to check our purposes or intention, lest we become prideful. As for Gideon,

he chose to trust in the Lord and go into battle. And it was through Gideon heroic faith that God was able to do a great miracle and deliver them from the Midianites! Our faith will get tested in this way too and…

2.     GOD WILL OFFER US CHOICES.

How many times have we asked and prayed for blessings, stayed faithful in attending services and in tithing, only to expect something we desire? And when we don’t get what we were hoping for, we bail out (e.g., stop going to church). It’s as if we’re telling God, “I’ll give you something if you’ll give me this or that.” It is in these moments, our faith is tested. The choices the Lord gives us are to test our hearts. The choices we make are a demonstration of our faith.

In the end, God does not want our actions, but our hearts. “I am now giving you the choice between life and death, between God’s blessing and God’s curse, and I call heaven and earth to witness the choice you make” (Deut. 30:19 TEV). The Lord will refine each and every one of us. He’ll check to see where we need to be built up, where our hearts need to be strengthened.

Remember that the Lord will not tempt us but He will test us. Test comes from the Greek word docimon which means to document [its strength] while Tempt comes from Greek word periazo which means to push until breaking. Just as a carpenter tests what he builds by applying pressure to it to make sure it is strong enough and worthy of what is was built for, the Lord tests us to identify the areas (character) where He may needs to strengthen us. We need depth of character to face the obstacles ahead and our faith will not be enduring until it is tested. Only then can God add more to our lives. Not only will the Lord will allow problems in our lives to test us, but in addition....

3.     PROBLEMS FORCE US TO MAKE COMMITMENTS TO GOD REGARDLESS OF THE OUTCOMES.

Life changing moments occur when problems arise. Will we choose to do what the Lord asks of us, regardless of the outcome, even if no one is watching? Will I serve Him because He is sovereign or do I serve only because I want Him to reward me? Whether we get rewarded or not is immaterial; let’s serve Him just because we love Him. When we do this, all of heaven is so pleased!

It would be nice to say that if you choose to serve God everything will turn out well but this is not so. “What more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon...and the prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions...and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment...and all these gained approval through their faith,...” (Heb. 11:32-33, 36, 30).

Note, all gained approval through their faith whether they were blessed or not. Sometimes nothing changes around us when we choose to serve God but this should not matter. We must choose simply to serve Him regardless of the outcome, as exampled by the biblical heroes of legendary faith.

So allow the Lord to begin in us first, knowing that our faith will be tested. Be obedient to truths we’ve already been taught, remembering that the Lord tests our faith to build us up. And through our testing, choose to serve Him regardless of the outcome, for no greater reason than His glory! When this happens, all of heaven rejoices and watch as God sends His miracles.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

1.      What idols/offenses do you need to get rid of?  What do you need to overcome in order to do that?

2.      Tell about a time when your faith was tested? What happened? How did you respond?

3.      What was the outcome of this test? What character did the Lord bring to your attention and how   have you allowed the Lord to build you up?

4.      What is your original calling? How are you doing in this area? Are you built-up enough spiritually that it wouldn’t matter if you performed acts of righteousness or were mocked?

5.      Thank the Lord for the problems and trials we face that refine us in such a way that we grow spiritually according to His plans.

Much “Mahalo” to Doreen Robaino, a dedicated woman of God whose faith has been demonstrated and tested throughout her years of service in the Sermon Notes ministry.