Joseph Prince - How God Turns Insecurity Into Strength (Lessons from Gideon)
«God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are nothing,» you know, not means nothing. «The things which are not, to bring to nothing, the things which are something». Isn’t it amazing? God uses nothing to bring nothing, things that are something. This applies to cancer, tumor, disease that are something, right? Right, come on, God uses… you know how God nullifies it? He uses things that are nothing to bring to nothing that cancer. God uses this throughout the Scriptures. I’m going to share with you this principle because once you understand this, you know how God works and you can flow with him.
Many of us are trying to flow with God like a superhero, all right. He’s up here, I need to rise up to his level. No, no, God is down here. God has come down. Haven’t you seen how he always loved to come down to your level? He sent his Son, amen. His Son was born King. He was not born to be King, he was born King. The Bible says, «Where is he born King of the Jews»? Amen, he was born king, yet he was a lowly King. He was among the peasants, among the poor, born in the most despised town in all Israel at the time, Nazareth. Because caravans will go to Nazareth. It’s an overnight stay, a place of overnight stay. Those from the south will go to the north will stop by Nazareth. And those from the north, likewise, going to Egypt and the different continents. Israel is the land bridge of three continents: Asia to the east, Europe to the north, and Africa to the south.
So, everyone stops at Nazareth. It’s a place of ill repute. And that’s why one of the disciples, when he heard that Jesus is from Nazareth, he says, «Can anything good come out of Nazareth»? But the place, the name, if you are known as a Nazarene, is despised. But Jesus has brought great perfume, and fragrance, and honor, and glory to the name Nazareth. So much so that he is known as, Jesus of Nazareth, amen. When they command evil spirits to come out or someone to be healed, in the book of Acts, they say, «In the name of Jesus of Nazareth». That place is exalted, amen. So, God’s way is always the lowly. Water seeks the lowest. Water never seeks the highest, it seeks the lowest. You want to be with God? Be in a humble place. Learn the principles. «And God chooses the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence,» right?
Drop down, «That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God». So Jesus is our wisdom from God. He is our righteousness, our sanctification, which is holiness, «and he is our redemption». If you are sick, know this, Jesus is your redemption from that sickness, amen. Jesus is your redemption from death itself, amen. He’s our everything. «As it is written, 'He who boasts or glories',» the word here actually, boasts, «he who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. Let him glory in the Lord». We have no other glory, amen. I just told you my shyness. I just told you last time… you all know my story. I don’t repeat it but how I was a stammerer and a stutterer, amen.
So, God uses weak things of the world. Ladies don’t like to be known as weak but look, the glory is yours. The power and the strength is yours. And there are some men strong naturally but they are weak in many, many ways. And the more you glory in your strength, the more you see weakness. The story of Gideon is a beautiful example. When God first called for Gideon, you know, God chooses people that are the simplest and the most despised. Are you in some way handicapped in some way because of your upbringing? You didn’t have the opportunities of financial support or you didn’t have your parents with you. You know, you were orphaned or you had one parent who left when you were young.
Whatever, you know, challenges you might have, that you feel handicapped or maybe it’s your physical side of things, all right. You don’t have some parts or you feel like you always have a weakness with your legs or something like that. Or you feel is your mind. You have intellectual disabilities. And it’s been proven by the powers that be that you have this condition. They call it, they have three, you know, usually three or four letters of the alphabet to describe it. But that’s not how God sees you. God sees potential. God sees opportunities for him, for his beauty to manifest. Before we look at Gideon, I believe that Samson was a very weak man. In all the movies that they portrayed Samson, they made a mistake. They always have a strong, muscular man, right, as Samson. I really think that Samson is the kind of guy… man I’m telling you, he runs around, it sounds like an angklung.
You know what is angklung? You know that wooden thing that they shake to rattle and it makes that kind of musical noise? Right, especially in Malaysia you find the instrument. Yeah, some of them, they run around like angklung. These people they have to run around in the shower to get wet. They’re so skinny. I believe that Samson is so skinny, I believe that. So that when he unhinged the gates of brass, everyone knows it’s the Lord on this man. Then God gets the glory that no flesh should glory but if it’s his muscles like in the movies, you know, they have, Mr. Universe one time they had a Mr. World acted as Samson. Oh, that was Hercules, sorry. But they always have big guys, you know, big guys acting. And then when he does something great, you know, his muscles bulging and all that. And young people are watching and kids think that you gotta have that kind of body. But not the… my Bible says, «The Spirit of the Lord came on him». He was ordinary before he can do anything until the Holy Spirit came on him.
So, I believe that he was skinny, amen. Can I have a good amen? And when it comes to people that are plain, God has a beauty that the world has not seen. God has something called radiance. You cannot have radiance if you depend on your own attractiveness. Back to Gideon, this is a time when their enemies were attacking, right? And every time they have a crop, they planted a crop, harvest time, the enemies would come, the Midianites would come and take their crops. So, a young man called Gideon… Okay, this is what happened to him. «Now the Angel of the Lord,» which most likely is the pre-incarnate appearance of Christ, the angel of the Lord in the Bible is always him. «He came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty men of valor! '»
So, God does not see you the way man sees you, right? And he was hiding, can you see that? He was hiding, threshing, all right, in stealth. He was secretly, you know, doing reaping, harvesting without the knowledge of the Midianites. All in hiding, right? And yet the Lord appeared to him and says, «You mighty man of valor»! How many know that God calls those things that are not as though they are? But that doesn’t mean those things are not in God’s eyes, those things are. Those things are not in our eyes. God calls those things that are not visible, not palpable, all right. God calls those things that are not in our own eyes as though they are. So, we need to come up to God’s realm. God sees things we don’t see. Can I have a good amen? But why did God choose Gideon? «And the angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, 'The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor! ' Gideon said to him, 'O my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? '»
You ever ask questions like this? No, none of you. «And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.'» Now, would you say this is like a man of valor talking? Look at God’s answer. «Then the Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.'» Now I’ll tell you this: every time I hear this preached, I think I’ve never heard it preached correctly. This part here, «Go in this might of yours». I’ve always heard people saying, all right, that God called Gideon, all right, either that he’s brave, even though he was hiding, you know, he had faith.
Now he had faith, he manifested faith later on, but he was a growing faith from the start. The thing is this, he was, «If God is with us, where are all his,» all that kind of thing, he’s weak. We know him, his name is mentioned in the book of Hebrews 11 as one of those in the hall of faith. But see how God starts with him, right? It is his weakness. So, when God says, «This might of yours,» you know what it is or not? His weakness, that’s the accurate interpretation. «Go in this might of yours». As long as you are weak in your own eyes, this will be mighty. So, Gideon listened. I like it, you are looking to the Lord. If the Lord is with us, then these things should not happen this way. This is good because I am with you now. He’s about to say, «I’m with you».
Always remember this, all right, your weakness is how I can work through you. «Go in this might of yours». God didn’t say, «I impart to you my might,» okay? So, remember that. So, God says, «'Have I not sent you? ' So he said to Him, 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? '» Watch this. «Indeed, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh». So, there are 12 tribes, okay. There’s a royal tribe of Judah, amen. There’s a priestly tribe of Levi. So, every tribe has clans in the tribe, many clans. In the tribe of Manasseh… by the way, the people of Manasseh, they are actually from the lineage of Joseph, right? Ephraim and Manasseh. Manasseh was rejected for Ephraim when he came to the firstborn blessings, remember? The younger brother got it.
So, Manasseh is where he then came from. And not only that, already it is like a tribe that is not exactly high on the dignity level of the history of Israel, but all the claims in Manasseh, he is the least. Gideon’s house is the least. And then he says, «And then in the least house, I am the least in my father’s house». Wow, this is after… you know what I’m saying? «I’m at the bottom of the barrel». This one is not the bottom of the barrel. You’re already outside the barrel. The barrel is on top of you. You are below the bottom of the barrel. You know what I’m saying? You are really down. Have you felt that way before? That you are the least in your father’s house? And then when you do something, you always questioned? I know your reason why you are here. I know why… you’ll not guess what happened to David. David, his father even forgot that he had another son.
Remember the prophet came to anoint a king. He had all his sons paraded in front of the prophet. And the prophet had to say what? Samuel had to say, «Are these all»? «I remember now. I have one more son». Wow, imagine if you are the son, all right. He’s out there taking care of the sheep. And then Samuel says, «We will not eat until he comes». Then he brought him. Why must Samuel say, «We will not sit down until he comes»? It’s almost like you can see the father is like…but you don’t, okay, no. «I will not eat until he comes». It’s almost like persuading the father. Putting pressure on the father. The boy came in and the Bible says he was ruddy, fresh from the field, amen. Probably, you know, smell of sheep. And the Lord says, «Arise, anoint him. This is he». And God used the boy.
When Israel was defeated, I mean, Israel was threatened by the Philistines, close to a massacre, but the Philistines didn’t want to lose their army. They were confident they could beat Israel in the natural, but they didn’t want to lose any men in the process. So, they said, «Just send one champion». And they sent their tallest, their ugliest, their meanest, the strongest, a warrior. And how they got to defeat that ugly, mean warrior, Goliath: a boy, a stone, and a sling. A boy, say, «A boy, a stone, and a sling». This is embarrassing for the enemy. A boy, a stone, and a sling. How do you get a sling? Well, in those days, David would probably take a piece of hide or leather from a goat or an ox, right? And then he will take that piece, he will dry it in the sun until it’s cured, okay. And that piece, they’ll become the sling. And then after it’s cured, he leaves it in the sun for it to be tanned.
After it’s tanned, it takes a process. Then he’ll take some salt and he will rub into it until it becomes smooth and soft. Then it’s ready. Then he takes it out, he puts it in his pocket, he goes out while he’s taking care of sheep. He used the sling as target practice until he became very accurate and very good. And guess what happened to Goliath. He never saw it. And you know, archaeologists tell us they found the Philistines, not Goliath, but Philistine’s helmet, the attire, the helmet. They found the helmet of the Philistines. And they say it covers all the way to the brow. So, for the Philistine to have his forehead exposed, must be he was laughing, «Ah, ah, ah, ah».
David shot him. It was the last laugh. And David cut off his head because David knew how to get ahead in life, amen. A boy, a stone. I know he chose five smooth stones but he only used one, a stone! I mean, if Goliath fell… okay, he wasn’t dead yet, at least. «No, let me die in style. An arrow or whatever, you know». This is embarrassing by a boy, a stone, a sling, that was his last thought probably. That’s God’s way. You think I’m just a boy, I’m the least. Well, you qualify. «The Lord said to him, 'Surely I’ll be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man, '» amen. And you know how he did it, right? Finally, when the battle came, he used a pitcher with a light, and a ram’s horn. And he told his men, «Follow what I’m doing».
Blow, you get the attention of the enemy in the camp. Blow, you get the attention, right? But there’s no weapon in his hands, all right. And smash the pitcher, and the light is exposed, and the enemy was defeated. So, «We have this treasure in earthen vessels,» the Bible says. In jars of clay. «We have this treasure in earthen vessels». And then there’s a breaking process, all right, God doesn’t use sickness and all that. It’s a breaking process, a breaking of our self-confidence and self-will, amen, so that light can shine. And you know what the man said when he broke the thing? The man shouted, «The sword of the Lord»! And Gideon, «Where’s the sword»? You don’t see it, but it’s the most powerful sword. It’s the sword of the Lord. It defeated the enemy. You know what gave Gideon the confidence to march into the enemy’s camp? He had a dream.
Oh, sorry, he heard a dream. He heard a dream. Gideon and his partner, all right, they crept all the way one night by stealth to the enemy’s camp and they overheard within earshot, someone was talking in the camp. A soldier was telling another soldier said, «You know what? I had a dream last night. It’s a terrible dream». «Tell me your dream». «Well, I dreamt that a barley loaf,» you know what’s a barley loaf? A barley loaf is the food of the common people, the poor. Jesus multiplied the loaves. The loaves there are barley loaves. It’s not wheaten loaf, which you see the richer people will eat that. Barley is for the common people. The poor, food of the poor. It was a barley loaf, a picture of… see a barley loaf was rolling down the hill and it smashed the tent of Midian, the enemies, and all the tents collapsed, and the people start scurrying away. Said, «What a terrible dream,» the other guy says. And one guy says, «You know what this is? It’s Gideon and his God».
So, Gideon got confidence from that dream. By the way, just let you know, Midian means strife. Look it up in the Hebrew, Midian means strife. If there’s strife and all that, you know what you need to roll into that situation? Jesus, the bread of life. He is the bread, amen. Nothing virtuous, nothing mighty, nothing supernatural about a simple barley loaf. When Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, the loaves… there’s nothing in that loaf. There’s nothing in the fish. Everything is in the Lord. He uses the weak things, things that are small, insignificant, amen. Nothing, listen, it was a boy’s five loaves and two fish. He called you as a boy, but use only five loaves to feed more than 5000. Nothing to do with the baskets, nothing to do with the 12 disciples.
All got to do with the Lord. Whatever you have, you got the Lord. He told him… God says what? «Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites». There was an earthquake, there was a wind, but the Lord was not in the wind. God was not in the wind. And then there’s an earthquake, the whole mountain shook, but God was not in the earthquake. And then there’s a fire. But God was not in the fire. All these are powerful demonstrations of God in the Old Testament, right? He even called fire from heaven, right? All these are pictures that all this outward show does not humble a man’s heart. You know what does? After all these entire three things happened, the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, but with a still small voice, grace. Grace is what breaks the stoniest hearts.
A soft tongue breaks the bone, grace. You know what happened? Jesus came down. He did come down but no fanfare. He came down to where we are. He came as what? As a baby. He came to the lowliest city and died a terrible death. The Bible says, «Christ crucified to the Jew who seek for a sign, a miracle, is foolishness», sorry, it is weakness. «But for the Greek who seek for wisdom, wisdom, knowledge, the cross is foolishness». But the Bible says, «The weakness of God is stronger than man. The foolishness of God is wiser than man. To us who believe, Christ crucified is the wisdom of God and the power of God». Are you listening?
Grace is what changes hearts, amen people. Don’t be discouraged with your weakness. If you are a stammerer, a stutterer, you don’t think that you are better looking than your sister, you’re more talented than your brother, you don’t think that, you know, you get the most likes on your social media. It doesn’t really matter. The favor is on the small, the little, the insignificant, amen. When it’s communion time, don’t despise the small piece of bread. Even a crumb falling from the Master’s table can drive a devil out, amen, thank God. When it’s weak, it’s small, insignificant, have eyes to see that, amen. Maybe you’re trying to pray, straying into your weakness, right? But that’s not… you’re trying to tell God, «God, take this away, take this weakness away». God’s saying, «No, that’s where your might is».