Greg Ford - Gideon
Today, I wanna talk specifically to those of you that know you need to come out of something. Or maybe you’re coming out of something. How do we come out of something we need to come out of? That’s a mentality issue, even if you physically need to get out, whether it’s get out of a work situation, get out of a relationship, maybe it’s getting out of debt. In some way getting out of your current circumstances, you need to go to a new place. How do we do that with the right mindset? I wanna take you to the book of Judges 6, and we’re gonna look, primarily in Judges 6, but we’re gonna skip around just a bit. And here we go, Judges 6:1-2, «The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years».
Verse 2 says, «The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds». The Midianites weren’t just taking them over militarily, in terms of an acquisition, this wasn’t a business acquisition, this was actually a barbaric group of people. Just a few of the details that you see early on in Judges 6, the Midianites were trying to starve them. They were trying to starve the Israelites. They would come in and ruin their crops, they stole their livestock. They would take their crops, not even just to take 'em and eat 'em for themselves, 'cause they were hungry. They would do it just to ruin them just to spite them.
So, it was insult to injury, it was very personal and they had seven years of this type of barbaric, sort of affliction that they were dealing with. It says in verse 6, «The Israelites», so Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites, and so they cried out to the Lord for help. I think it’s worth really thinking about that for a moment. That concept of being reduced to starvation. I wanna take this literal seven years at the hands of the Midianites, the seven year affliction, and I want to use that although it was real for the nation. I want you and I to use it as a metaphor for an extended period of adversity. The thing that you need to come out of. The thing you’re trying to move past.
For some of you it may be the lingering effects of a broken relationship. For some of you it may have been a loss that has haunted you, something that didn’t work out. Maybe you shot your shot at a business endeavor, you tried to start something, maybe you borrowed from friends and family, or in some way, you know, people believed in you, you believed in yourself. You went for it. Hey, it’s now or never, and it didn’t work out. So, this thing has caused you to be stuck. And some way for seven years, the seven year Midianite oppression and adversity puts you in a certain head space. And we see that Gideon, who now shows up in the story, it says that in verse 11, it says, «Gideon son of Joash was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, 'mighty hero, the Lord is with you'»!
Gideon kind of represents a nation in that this is a guy who had been reduced from any sort of dreams or visions of victory, or ambition. Reduced to smuggling grain in a winepress. When you have seven years of adversity, when you have an extended period where you’re taking l’s, you’re taking losses, feels like things are going from bad to worse. And it feels like your vision has now been reduced from, «Hey, world domination, or I’m gonna be really successful, or I’m gonna solve this big problem,» or whatever the vision was before, «Your vision’s been reduced to survival. I gotta make it through today. It’s not, we’re gonna do something great. I’m gonna make my life really count». You’re not trying to get in the hall of fame, you’re going, «What am I going to eat this week»?
And so, when that happens, often times it can become its own mentality reducer, like, it’s so reductive, you end up in that place. It’s hard, it feels delusional, or insane to think of anything great, anything big. Because you’re going, «Who am I to, I sound like an idiot thinking big when I’m smuggling grain in a winepress, hiding out». The nation was in a position that seemed like there was no way out. The numbers game was so far against them it was ridiculous. We find out later the Midianites had 135,000 fighting warrior, to Israelites' 32,000. So, they’re one and four and a half. It’s terrible numbers, there was no way out. And so, here you have Gideon who is in this place where his mentality has been reduced to survival. If you have common ground with what I just said, God sent me to you today.
I wanna encourage you today. I know it might feel delusional, I know it might feel disorienting, but even when you’re in a winepress, in the middle of a seven year adverse situation, in some way in that moment, you have to be able to maintain hope, and allow the Lord to lead you into a vision of someplace other than where you are right now. It’s not you denying reality, it’s not you sticking your head in the sand, but in some way, you have to find a buoyancy of hope to go, «This is my truth now. This is the facts of my life now. This is where I am now. As of right now, today, I have to smuggle grain to eat, but this is not where I’m gonna stay». The angel of the Lord appears to him, and don’t miss any of the details here, 'cause this is all really good. He says, «Mighty hero, the Lord is with you»!
Mighty hero, the Lord is with you! This had to feel to Gideon like sarcasm. Mighty hero, what are you talking about? Mighty hero. In case you didn’t notice, I’m hiding. I’m afraid, I’m outnumbered, I’m weak, I’m feeble, I’m anemic. Mighty hero? What are you talking about? But what the angel of the Lord was doing, was beginning, he was inviting him in a new path of thinking. I just wanna sit here for a minute, if you’d just indulge me to sit here for a minute, 'cause I wanna make sure we don’t stay shallow in this message. When you’re in a seven year adverse situation with barbaric Midianites, you’re not just bailed out with one mighty hero, you see what I’m saying? It’s not just the angel comes and goes, «Mighty hero, the Lord’s with you,» and Gideon goes, «Oh, that’s true, I am mighty hero».
Like you don’t just flip it that quickly. But what the angel is doing is inviting him to begin believing it. It wasn’t the solution to the problem, it was the beginning of a solution. But the first action step that I wanna give you around getting your mind right, if you’re gonna come out, is you have to be willing to think differently. You have to be willing to think differently. The angel shows up and says, «Mighty hero». And although you don’t feel like a mighty hero, and you might not even believe right now that you’re a mighty hero, the angel has introduced you to a path that will lead you to doing courageous things, that will lead you to a new place. It’s an invitation to come out of the winepress.
Come out. Come out, come out. Come out of this, stop smuggling this grain. You don’t wanna, you’re gonna die here smuggling grain. You’re gonna run out, you cannot stay here, you gotta come out. It’s an invitation to go let’s start thinking this way. You have to make a decision that are willing to begin thinking differently. It’s not gonna happen with one pep talk, it’s not gonna happen with one compliment, it’s not gonna happen with a little victory. It’s going to happen when you start down that path. «Mighty hero,» he says, «The Lord is with you». Adversity has a way of creating like one or the other of an outcome in you life. Like adversity has the potential to either produce humility or timidity. It’s up to you. Adversity can produce either humility or timidity.
Let me make a distinction for the sake of this conversation. Humility, humility we talked about it earlier. Humility is a great thing. Humility is a wonderful character trait to have, because it gives you good self-awareness, it gives you an appreciation for the people around you. It’s attractive. I mean, man, when you’re around somebody who’s humble, like truly humble, that is an attractive quality. I think it’s just, it’s a great thing. So, when you’re going through adversity, your seven years with the Midianites, if you, instead of cursing the adversity, instead of being mad that you’re in the situation to begin with, instead of getting mad at the Midianites, and mad the Israelites, and mad at yourself, and mad at God, look at the situation, the adversity and go, «I’m gonna wring every drop out of this adversity that I can, and maybe the greatest thing I come away with is the character quality of humility».
But at it’s worst, what it can often do is create timidity. Timidity. I’ll define that as, timidity is the thing that causes you to shrink up. When I’m talking about timidity, I’m not talking about a personality trait of someone who’s maybe quiet by nature, or a little more reserved, or a little shy, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about timidity like, «I’ve lost my self-esteem. I’m not gonna take another risk again. Hey, that last situation hurt so bad, I’m not gonna ante up again because if I do it, it might hurt again». I’m talking about something that reduces you, sucks the faith out of you, sucks the courage out of you and causes you to play it safe, or to be defensive, or to put up walls, or to cocoon yourself, and to live the rest of your life in fear.
This is why the apostle Paul says to his son in the faith, Timothy, in 2 Timothy 1:7. He says, «The God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline». Power, love, and a sound mind. So, notice, courage and humility are not mutually exclusive. You can be a humble person and a courageous person. And so, what was happening here to Gideon is because of the seven years, and I’m not here to judge, 'cause I think seven years at the hands of a barbaric Midianite regime would cause anyone to question themselves. It would create an insecurity. But what was happening is, he was becoming timid. He was hiding out.
And so, the angel comes to him and says, «Mighty hero». He starts to hack away at his belief to say, you have to understand, like you are not meant to spent the rest of your life playing defense just because you had a loss. Just because something didn’t work out doesn’t mean you’re supposed to be alone the rest of your life. Just because somebody wounded you and hurt you doesn’t mean that all people are bad. And so, I’m gonna keep everybody at arm’s length, I’m never gonna let anybody in again. Just because the thing didn’t work out in your career, doesn’t mean your career is doomed. Doesn’t mean that there is no more room for you to take another risk or to step out boldly. It’s not timidity, it’s humility. Humility.
It says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, it’s says, «We’re pressed on every side by troubles, but we’re not crushed». I love that language. This is talking about adversity. Talking about adversity. Adversity. He’s saying, «Hey, adversity can press you and not crush you. It’s okay to be pressed». Some of us, often times when we are in adversity, we get so hung up and fixated on the nature of the adversity and how uncomfortable it is that we miss the opportunity for it to produce something that it’s meant to produce. He says, «Hey, it’s okay to be pressed. But we’re pressed, not crushed. We’re perplexed. We don’t have the answers, but we’re not in despair. We’re hunted down, but we’re not abandoned by God». He said, «We get knocked down, but we’re not destroyed».
This is why the angel shows up with him and addresses him in a disorienting fashion. «Mighty hero, mighty warrior, the Lord is with you». Now, watch this back and forth between the Lord and Gideon. It’s says, «Sir,» Gideon replied, «If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us»? Fair question. «And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about»? Fair question. «Didn’t they say, 'the Lord brought us up out of Egypt»? Rhetorical question, but fair. «Now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites». Facts. Verse 14, «Then the Lord turned to him and said, 'go with the strength you have'».
Sometimes, you ask God questions, even good questions, he doesn’t always answer 'em. And often times people stay stuck in the winepress because I’m not leaving 'til I get my answers. I’m not doing anything until I get my answers. These are good questions, these are fair question, but you can’t wait, you can’t wait on answers. Sometimes, you gotta go without answers. He asked questions, and notice the Lord doesn’t go, «Hey, good questions, here’s the answer to one and», he just says, «Go with the strength you have». Sometimes, you have to move in the direction before you have all your questions answered, you’re wounds healed and your energy restored. That’s a fact. Sometimes you have to move in a direction before you’ve had all your wounds healed and your questions answered and your energy restored.
Notice what he says to him, he says, «Go with the strength that you have». That’s our second action step is go with the strength you have. Gideon is so focused on the strength he doesn’t have that he’s telling him go with the strength you do have. Now, think about the fact that the angel of Lord doesn’t come and give him an energy pill. He didn’t give him more energy. Friend, this is just a hard truth. I mean, I can preach Disney to you, or we can talk about real life. And real life is this, sometimes, you don’t get to go with the strength you wish you had. You don’t get to with all the strength you want. Sometimes, you just have to go with the strength you have. He says, «Take what you have». And again, this is getting your mind right.
People say, «I can’t, I can’t, I can’t». Yeah, you can, you don’t want to. You don’t feel like it. Have you ever been exercising and your minds not in it? Your mind ain’t in it. «You know, I ain’t feeling this today». That’s about to be a bad workout. You’re about to not get much out of it. You might as well just go home. But if you flip the switch, if you decide, I’m about to dig in on this. And by the way, I’m just talking about a superficial 30 minute, you know, 1 hour workout. Let’s flip it, I mean, people in their relationships, in their marriages, in their careers, in leading themselves, «I can’t, I can’t. I don’t have it in me anymore».
Yeah, you can just go with the strength you have. Sometimes you have to just go with the strength. You don’t have what you want, but you have something. And what the angel of the Lord is essentially telling Gideon here is, «You have more than you think you have». Gideon thought he didn’t have any strength and that’s how it feels, seven years at the hands of the Midianites. That’s how it feels when you’re that beat down. Notice the conversation that Gideon has with the angel of the Lord. Look what he says here. He says, in verse 15, «Lord,» Gideon replied, «How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family»! We’ll get back to that in a second, but look at this. Verse 16, watch this, «The Lord said to him, 'I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if'», look at this, «'as if you were fighting against one man'».
What is that but a simplification. You have Gideon who is overwhelmed because he is doing the math, he’s counting the gears. «They’re 135,000 fighting men, we’re 32,000. The numbers don’t work. It’s been seven years, if we were gonna get ourselves out of it, we would have by now. I don’t have any energy. I’m smuggling grain in a winepress, waiting to die». And what does the Lord do for him in this moment but take the 135,000, and the 7 years and all the complexity and says, «You’re gonna beat 'em like it’s one guy».
Simple. Hey, there are certain cliches in the world that you should go ahead and listen to, 'cause they’re cliches for a reason, because they’re true. I’ll give you one, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. That’s good, that’s true. If I look at the elephant there’s no way I could, one bite at a time, one bite at a time. Gideon and the nation of Israel become so discouraged because it felt like eating an elephant. It felt like trying to boil the ocean. It felt like something so big and impossible that there was no way it was gonna work. And what does the Lord do but give him a simplification. Bring it, it’s like it’s 1, quit looking at 135,000. It’s like it’s one guy. Bring it down to simplicity.
So, the third action step I give you today is simplify and act. Simplify and take action. Simplify and act. Bring it down, like it’s one guy, and be obedient to the next thing. I don’t know what you’re seven years with the Midianites look like. I don’t know what the winepress feels like to you to smuggle grain. I don’t know what’s happened to your ego. I don’t know what’s happened to your identity. I don’t know what’s happened to your mind and your self-esteem, maybe you feel like you’ve got nothing left. «I have no dignity left. Look at me, I’m smuggling grain in a winepress. I’m breaking down crying in a board meeting. I can’t even get myself out of bed. I don’t feel like I’m doing anything well. I’m spinning plates and they’re all breaking right now».
Like maybe you’re in that place. And when you’re there, instead of staying there and dying in that spot, allow God to start to give you a new vision. Be willing to start thinking differently. Go with the strength you have, and simplify, and take action. I’ll give you this last thing. This is just a little, this is a little nugget in the scripture that I think is just, it encouraged me to my core. Let’s go back to what we just read, Judges 6:15, when the Lord says, «Hey, I’m gonna use you to deliver the nation. I’m gonna use you to deliver the nation».
That had to feel so disorienting to Gideon, 'cause he’s like, «How am I going to deliver the nation? I can’t even deliver myself. How am I going to put the nation on my back? I can’t even carry my own weight». And so, his push back was, «How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh,» and then, look what he says next, «And I am the least in my entire family»! This message is called, «Get your mind right,» and Gideon’s mindset, what he saw of himself in his mind’s eye is clarified in this verse. I’m from a weak clan, and I’m the weakest in the clan. I’m the bottom of the barrel. I have no value.
Two chapters later, if you read ahead you’ll see God gives these guys and incredible plan. They go through, Gideon turns into, you know, Leonidas from the 300. You know, he’s like… And so, they fight through man, and it’s all heroic, and he becomes the mighty hero, and the mighty warrior. And without breaking the whole thing down, basically, in verse 18, he gets to a place where he’s trying to find some of his family. And it says, «Gideon asked: the men you killed». I couldn’t pronounce the name so I just thought I’d go all in. «The men you killed at tabor,» he says. He asked those two guys, the Z guys. He says, «The men», see, I could have faked it for you, but I didn’t wanna be a faker, alright.
I’mma just be honest this is 2022, okay. He said, look at this, don’t miss this. «The men you killed at tabor-what were they like»? Look what they say? «Like you,» they replied. «They all had the look of a king’s son». Wow. Two strangers who had never seen him before, he said, «Hey, what did those guys look like»? They said, «Those guys look like you. The son of a king». Two chapters earlier, how does he see himself? He says it in verse 15, «I’m the least. I’m the weakest. I’m the smallest. I’m from the weakest clan and I’m the weakest of the clan». And two chapters later. By the way, his personal appearance didn’t change in two chapters, this was a couple days later. But someone who didn’t even know him looked at him and said, «You look like a prince, dude. You remind me of a prince».
You remind me of a princess. You look like the daughter of a king, you look like the son of a king. I’m talking about the importance of getting your mind right, 'cause often times what our truth is, and what our mindset is, and what we feel about ourselves, and what we believe about ourselves isn’t even true. But it’s what’s keeping you in the winepress. 'cause you think you’re in the smallest and you’re the least of the least. And some stranger looks at you and think you look like the son of a king. You gotta get your mind right as to who God has made you, the one who’s created you, the potential that you still have. Don’t let your seven years of adversity, and the feeling of having your dignity stripped away, and the fact that you’re smuggling grain in a wine press become a stumbling block, and something that keeps you stuck in a place where you’re not moving forward.
Come out of that thing. Come out of it. How? You gotta start thinking different, you gotta be willing to start thinking different. Mighty hero, the Lord is with you. You don’t feel like a mighty hero, it doesn’t matter, start going down that path, mighty hero. Start doing mighty hero stuff. Come out of the winepress, take the step. How do I that? Go with the strength you have. I don’t have the strength I want, I’m not strong as her, I’m not strong as him. Go with the strength you have, you have more in you than you think you do. Fix your mind on it. Make a decision. Do it, you can do it. «I can’t get out of that». Yeah, you can. «I can’t move forward». Yeah, I can. «No, I can’t risk getting hurt again».
Yeah, you can. Yes, you can. You can do more than you think you can. You can do more than you think you can. Come out of the winepress, go with the strength you have. Don’t wait on God to give you a big surge of adrenaline, go with the strength you have. «I don’t have much». That’s fine. It’s gonna be enough. Start moving forward, God’ll bring alliances your way. God will give plans, but he ain’t gonna give it to you in a wine press you gotta get out of it. Take a step, walk out. Simplify and act. Don’t think 135,000, 1, it’s 1 man. You’re gonna beat him like he’s one man. Find it in yourself to begin moving forward, and when you take that step of faith watch what God does. God says to Gideon, «I want to display my power in this situation where the numbers don’t work. 'cause if the numbers worked, it would contribute to your pride, that would take you from your prosperity into turning from me». He said, «I wanna work in a situation where the numbers don’t work so that I get the glory».
Not me Greg Ford, God, okay? I just wanna make sure that doesn’t end up on the internet. That’s how you end up a pastor meme. «I get the glory». It’s like, «You see, another one of these narcissist, okay, anyway». The Lord God, that he gets the glory. God shows up in things where the numbers don’t always make sense, where the odds are long. So that you walk out of that thing, and you go, «No, I was not able to do that. I didn’t do that. If it was up to me I would’ve died in the winepress». I like hanging out with people with that kinda story, I like being around people who go, «If it was up to me, I would’ve died in the winepress, but God showed up». Don’t think you’re passive in this journey though. You have a role to play too. You have a decision. What are you gonna do with your adversity? What are you gonna do with it? Is it gonna create humility or is it gonna create timidity? God’s not given you a spirit of timidity. Power, love, sound mind, self-discipline. Take action.