Strength in Weakness

Rev Gideon Lee

Can you turn your bible to the book of Judges? 

How many of you have the TOP Calendar of Events, please wave it to me. How many of you don't have one? I want everyone to have one. I'll be referring to this later after my message.

Judges 6:11-24

11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

15 “But Lord,’” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” 

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”

19 Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”

23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

Judges 7:1-8

Gideon Defeats the Midianites

1 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon ) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ ” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.

4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”

5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others. 

Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.

The title of my message today is Strength in Weakness. We are going to see how we can have strength in the time of weakness. 

What does the bible says Gideon was doing? He was preaching on Sunday? The bible say he was trashing wheat at the wine press. I think it's odd because the wine press is the place where you press wine. But Gideon was using this place to trash wheat. Under normal circumstances you do not do that. The bible tells us the reason why?

The Israelites at that time was weak and being oppressed by the Midianites  They would come and take their harvest away. Gideon was trying to hide the wheat from them. It tells me that Gideon was a resourceful person. Also a smart person. 

The angel of the Lord appeared and called him the mighty man of valour. Gideon asked a legitimate question. He said if God is really with him why is all these things happening to us? What happened to the promises of God? He asked out of the circumstances he was facing. 

And the Lord told him to go in his strength as God has sent him. God was not denying the circumstances. He knew what Israel was going through. 

He tells Gideon to go as He was sending him. Gideon asked another legitimate question. He said how can he be the one as he is the least of his family and his tribe is also the least in Israel. If you want to save Israel you'd send the best of the best. He was the least of the least. 

Logically speaking when we want to do something we will choose the best. But here God called the least. The Lord assured him one more time. I'm sending you. The second time God said I will be with you. 

Here's the secret of Gideon's success. God is with him and that's what make Gideon successful. 

We see some truth unfold before us in this scripture. Whatever comes in 2015 you'll be able to face it. The first thing is that God saw the potential of Gideon. Gideon says who am I? I'm the last of my father’s family. But the Lord saw the potential of Gideon. He saw what Gideon could be. With God's help. Can we see the positive potential of everything that comes our way. Why? Because God is with us. We learn how to look at the positive and our focus would be different. Let's purpose in our heart to be an encourager. Let our words be encouraging. 

God don't look at us as who we are. If God sees us as who we are it would be a sad thing. But God look at our potential. He saw Gideon as the deliverer of Israel. Even though Gideon didn't see it. 

Let's apply this in our personal lives for 2015. In our workplace. Our church. So that we don't see just our fault and errors. God sees TOP as a lighthouse. That we can do greater things. God wants to do greater things in you and through you. 

We may not see ourselves as heroes. How many of you love Tamil movies. All their heroes have moustaches. Like Vive. All of them have wonderful hair. They can be fighting but their hair is perfect. When we look at a hero we want to look at someone that look the best. 

But when God looks at us it does not matter if we have moustache or wavy hair. God is saying am I not sending you? He is. And God is calling each one of us because he sees the potential that we have. 

I'm reminded of this story. 

There was once a preacher who had hard times before he was successful. He was finding hard to make ends meet. One day he decided to use his savings to open a petrol station. He thought he'd make some money to help in the ministry. He talked to his wife who disagreed at first but finally the wife relented. The petrol station was a failure and they lost all their savings. The husband was afraid to tell his wife. When he went home he thought the wife will tell him off. The wife has the right to say I told you so. 

When he told his wife the wife kept quiet for a while. The wife had a right to tell him I told you so. But instead, the wife said I reckon you don't smoke, drink so that money was probably wasted on the petrol station. So she said it's the same. She didn't say anything after that. The wife could have crushed his spirit. But instead she saw the potential of the husband and supported him. 

The church needs a lot of encouragement. We can find a thousand and one fault in the church or the pastor. But if we look at the potential and encourage them we can be a different church. I'm not saying we do not look at our faults. 

The Lord welcomes honest questions. That's what we read in the bible. When Gideon asked how can this be. He had doubts but he wanted to know. There's a difference between wanting to know and wanting to know for fun. Some peoples asked questions not because they want to know or to clarify but so they can catch you with something you say. God is not afraid of honest questions. 

In your time of trials it's okay to ask God honest questions. He is not one who will not answer honest questions. We welcome honest questions. In 2015 we can ask honest questions to clarify or to find out. But often we do the opposite. We go around and talk to every person except the right person. We should go around to clarify. We welcome honest questions. 

The bible says if we want to follow him we need to carry the cross. Or to count the cost before we build a house. Can we go to our father and ask when we don't understand? Even with our earthly father we can do that. Ask. I think God wants us to have a critical mind. Thinking people. But it's different when we have a critical heart. 

God welcomes honest questions. 

Last but not least, we need to put our plans to action. Remember chapter 7. God says there are too many people. God is giving a plan. Even though Gideon sees himself as a loser, God has a plan for him. Because God is with us and has a plan for us and we need to put the plan into action. Too many people. God told him to let the people go if they are afraid. 22,000 and God still says too many. I don't know about you but if I go into a fight I'd want more people. 10,000 and still too many. God says he will test them. Bring them to the water and those that God say stay will stay and those that go will go. There was two ways they drink water. One group lap water like dogs. They got down on all fours and lap on the water. Then another group used their hands and to scoup the water. These are the ones God wants to stay. God is a practical God. If you go to war you want people who are alert and knows what's happening around them. These who lap like dogs won't know what’s happening around them. They'd not be able to see what's around them. God wants these to go. 

At the end of the day the 300 who stayed God used them. God gave each of them a torch and hid them under a pitcher. And when the time was right they broke the pitcher and the light was seen and there was confusion in the enemy's camp. God gave them a great victory. 

God has a plan and we must not be afraid. I need each and everyone of you. Like Gideon and his 300 men, I need you. 

In your hands are the Calendar of Events. These are our plans. You may have the Hokkien or Youth who may have their own plans and calendar but it will have to be planned around this calendar. 

Why am I showing you this? I need your support. I want you to know what's happening here. I've been here into the fifth year. Our attendance have dropped. Some is due to natural progression. Like Charmaine is leaving to study and Sis Mee Chiong is going to KL. Or some passed away. But more is leaving than coming in. This is what is happening. More people are leaving by natural progression than we can bring in. The people that are getting saved is not as fast as the people leaving. 

In 2015 we want to address this. Some of us have plans on Sundays but your attendance is very important. We go on holidays, we go for marathon. Don't crucify me. I know you have personal plans. But try to avoid the peak period of our church calendar. In December when we have so many programmes how can we do anything when the church is empty. In my previous church we must all be there for every event. And if we cannot attend we inform our pastor. Every public holiday is planned with events. I'm not doing that. I want you to go shopping and spend time with your family. But in 2015 can we prioritise our Sunday and be found in the house of God. We need to be here on Sunday. 

We want to have our plans for 2015 but I cannot do it without you. If there's anything come and talk to me. Let's put our plans into action. Let's support the plans of the church. I also want to ask one thing of you. Can we come early to church? I feel for the song leader. Sometimes we start at 10:45am. Only a handful in church. If you are on duty, you are supposed to be here by 9:15am, worship team. Ushers what time? You know the time right? Leaders, at least 15 minutes before service. We have to work on this area. We need a spirit of excellence. 

Will I see you next week? Some pastors say this and next week no one turns up. Will I see you next week? I say this also for myself. You want to see the church grow? Amen. Can you work with me for 2015? In 2014 our attendance have dropped and so have our tithes and offering. I'm not worried about the offerings. I'm worried if we are not found in the house of the Lord.