176 God is Bigger Than My Fears

How big is your God? 

This is an important question because the way you live will be the consequence of the size of your God.

If you have a small God, you will live in a constant state of fear and anxiety.

But we do not have a small God. He is the sovereign, transcendent Lord of all! Whatever your weakness, God is stronger.  Whatever your lack, God is sufficient.  Whatever your loss, God is enough.  And whatever your fear, God can see you through it.

In Judges 6 we meet a young man named Gideon, threshing wheat in a winepress at night. Why would he be doing that? Because he was afraid. Afraid the marauding Midianites would steal his family’s meager supply of grain.

So here he is, threshing wheat in a hole in the ground under cover of darkness, when an angel appeared to Gideon. “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” (v. 12)

Mighty warrior? Gideon has a hard time comprehending this.

One of the consequences of living with a little God is that you come to the conclusion that things can never change.  

But God gives Gideon a mission. “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand… I will be with you…” (v. 14,16)

“I will be with you.” This is the hinge that everything turns on – not just for Gideon, but for us too. That which would seem to be unthinkable, undoable on my own becomes not merely possible, but unstoppable when you partner with a big God. Believing that God is with you changes everything.

Gideon finally commits to taking on the Midianites, so he sends out a call to the Israelite tribes to send soldiers, and 32,000 show up. The problem is Midian has an army of 135,000!

God effectively says to Gideon, “You have a numbers problem. You have too many!” Then He leads Gideon through a couple of rounds of cuts until he is left with just 300 men. Armed with a torch, a trumpet, and a clay pot, this ragtag bunch of nobodies defeats the enemy in a totally unpredictable way. Against all odds, God brought about a tremendous victory.

One of the results of partnering with a big God is that that which frightens you the most is brought down to size. 

How big is your God compared to what frightens you?

Friends, the issue isn’t the size of that which so frightens you.  The issue is the size of the God who is with you. 

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

Text: Judges 6, 7

Originally recorded on June 5, 2011, at Fellowship Missionary Church, Fort Wayne, IN