What to Do When the Odds Are Against You: An Unusual Battle Plan

The following message from Pastor Greg Laurie is made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If you would like to know how you can become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org.

That's harvest.org. Okay Gideon, tell the guys this is the battle plan. Okay men, I want you to run down the hill. I want you to say, for the Lord and Gideon, then crack your little pot and then the flames out, and then blow your little trumpet. Trumpet?

That's it? Pastor Greg Laurie says Gideon's men likely questioned that plan, and they may have even had questions about this man God sent them to be their leader. God will often use the unqualified to do the unexpected. A challenging job is always much easier with the right tool. You don't use a screwdriver to pound a nail.

You don't use a wrench to sand some furniture. And you don't use trumpets to attack an immense army, unless you're Gideon sent by Almighty God. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie continues his World Changers series, examining the great leaders of the Bible who made an impact on their culture.

We'll see what we can learn for our lives from the example of Gideon. Let me ask you a question. What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you like what you see?

All the narcissists are like, yes. All the selfies. But you know, what do you see when you look in the mirror?

Now if you have a magnifying mirror, it's almost traumatic. You know what I'm talking about? I don't know what you see. You probably don't like what you see.

Maybe some of you do. It's been said, quote, mirrors don't lie. Lucky for you, they can't laugh either. End quote.

That's true, isn't it? Be sad if your mirror laughed at you. Let me tell you what God sees when He looks at you. He sees things differently.

See, when I look in the mirror, I look at my reflection, I see flaws. God sees things differently. I see weakness. God sees potential. I see what I am. God sees what I can be. I see the past.

God sees the future. I see a lump of clay. God sees a beautiful sculpture. I see a blank canvas. God sees a Van Gogh.

I see a lump of coal. God sees a sparkling diamond. I see a vacillating, unsure Simon. God sees a Simon Peter rock-like man. I see a persecuting Saul of Tarsus. God sees a great apostle Paul. God sees things differently than I see them. And now we are going to look at a man that had no potential that we can see whatsoever, yet he became a bona fide world changer and his name is Gideon. The reason I mention how God sees things is when He is initially greeted, as we will see in a moment, the angel says, hello Gideon, you mighty hero of courage. And if there is anything he wasn't at that moment, it was a man of courage. But again God saw the potential. As our story begins we find Gideon trying to prepare a little bit of wheat, hiding behind the walls of a small wine press, hardly a picture of heroism and courage.

He was like the rest of Israel. Hungry. Hurting. And humiliated. And the Lord said, there is my man.

So the story begins. Judges 6. Look at verse 12. And the angel of the Lord appeared and said, I am reading from the New Living Translation, Hey mighty hero, the Lord is with you. Gideon said to him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, then why have all these things happened to us? And where are all of His miracles, which our fathers told us about, saying, Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt? And now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. And then the Lord turned to him and said, Go in this might of yours and you will save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.

Have I not sent you? We will stop there. Interesting response on the part of Gideon. He complains. Here is the Lord coming to him and he says, Hey why has all of this happened to us? And God could have rebuked Gideon. God could have said, What are you talking about Gideon? You brought this on yourself. You and your people with your idolatry.

But yet the Lord did not do that. Effectively He said, Look we have got a job to do. Let's get going. Sort of like when you are trying to leave your house and get your kids ready and a shoe is missing and you are searching for a doll. Sadly it is the dad looking for his doll.

So you know you are looking. We have got to go. You say, Kids just get in the car. We will sort it out later. We have got to.

Yeah but mom. Just get in the car. Ok. And the Lord is saying that to Gideon. Look I don't have time to deal with your whining and your lame questions. It is going to happen. And it is going to happen right now.

So let's get going. Now Gideon immediately protests. Verse 15, Lord how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least of my father's house. Modern interpretation of that would be, Hey I am the runt of the litter. I am the lowest of the low. And God said, Yeah well you are the guy I want. That brings us to point number one if you are taking notes.

Number one. God uses people who are humble. God uses people who are humble. In fact Gideon asks the Lord in verse 15, Who am I? Who am I that you would call me?

And I love the response of the Lord. The Lord in effect says, It is not about who you are. It is about who I am. So we say, Who am I?

God says, Really nobody. But who am I? I am the great I am. And I am the one that is going to do the work through you.

So let's get going. I love how he is greeted initially. Verse 12, Mighty hero the Lord is with you. I don't think Gideon felt like a mighty hero.

I think he probably felt more like a pathetic zero. But yet God reassures him that he is the one. But first there is going to be a test before he leads Israel into battle.

And it is going to be a test in his own home. God told Gideon to tear down the altar his father Joash had erected to a false god. He said, Go tear that altar down. And Gideon did what the Lord told him to do.

And that was not easy. Bringing us to principle number two. World changers are faithful in little things. World changers are faithful in little things.

Listen. If you want God to use you in big things first you have got to start with little things. He did what the Lord called him to do. Verse 27 says, He did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father's household and the people of the town. And you know what happened? After he tore down the altar of his dad the people were so angry and they wanted to execute Gideon.

Pretty harsh. But amazingly and in an interesting little twist in the story the father of Gideon the guy who set up the altar to Baal is the one who defends him. And the father says to the people, Why are you defending Baal?

Why do you argue his case? If Baal is really a god let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar. So Gideon passed the first test with flying colors. Now the Lord says, Okay get an army together. So Gideon is able to rally 32,000 men.

That is pretty good. But considering the Midianites had over 100,000 troops armed to the teeth. That wasn't that many but at least it was a start. 32,000 men and here is what happens. Judges 7 verse 2. The Lord said to Gideon, You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites he is your light so boast to me and say they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore tell the people who is ever timid or afraid leave this mountain or go home. So 22,000 of them went home and only 10,000 were left to fight. Oh that must have shocked Gideon.

I mean he maybe thought he would lose a few but 22,000. Go home. It is interesting that phrase go home is from the Hebrew momento returnis. It translates out to return to mommy. No I made that up.

Ok but here is what he effectively says. Look if you guys are afraid go home to mommy. Ok bye. 22,000 guys walk off the field. Wait. Wait. What?

Are you serious? 22,000 leave. Why did they leave?

And why did the Lord even want them to leave? Answer. Fear is contagious.

Fear is contagious. And you know if you are looking for a life on easy street with no challenge or no conflict then go home to mommy. Alright. But if you want to be a world changer. If you want your life to make a difference it is time to man up. It is time to wool man up. It is time to be the person God has called you to be. In just a moment we will follow Gideon and his men as they stage their attack and observe the only battle ever won not by instruments of warfare but by musical instruments.

That is next. Hey everybody Greg Laurie here inviting you to join me every weekend for what we call Harvest at Home. It is a church service. It is a worship service. It is a Bible study and it is wherever you want it to be.

In your home, in your car, sitting on a beach, walking down the street, watching it on your phone. Wherever you are you can take it with you and be ministered to every weekend. Join us for Harvest at Home at Harvest.org. We are learning to follow the example of Gideon today. As Pastor Greg continues his message from his World Changers series. Gideon is about to be used by God in a mighty way.

Let's listen. Now there is one final test. He has 10,000 left.

One final test. And I was telling this Bible story to my grandchildren recently. And I don't know why but I left this next part out. And my granddaughter Stella said, Papa you forgot the part about when they drank from the spring.

I went, you're right. And I had to tell them that. I left it out.

I don't know why. So I am not going to leave it out today ok. Because this is maybe the best part of the story. So now he has 10,000 men. Judges 7 verse 4. The Lord told Gideon there are still too many.

So bring them down to the spring and I will sort out who will go with you and who will not. Gideon took his warriors down to the water and the Lord told him, Divide the men into two groups. And one group put all those who cup water in their hands. And then those who lap it up with their tongue like dogs. And the other group put all those who kneel down and drink their mouths in the stream. This test that God is now giving will reveal their attitude toward the enemy. You have two groups. First there are the people that just went and just basically drank the water and paid no attention to what was going on around them. And then there is the group that were very careful to note what was happening around them. They were aware of the enemy. I remember we were in Israel years ago and we went to Gideon's spring.

Probably where this happened. And so I wanted to illustrate it so I asked a couple of people if they would volunteer. You know. Well I want one of you to go down and just drink the water and I want somebody else to cup the water very carefully. And so I got two volunteers and as I am having them do it I looked and there was a sign that says, Do not drink water poison. It is like oh no. Someone is going to die for a sermon illustration. Unfortunately they were ok.

But this story really happened. And now there is only 300 left. Only 300 left. But now we are down to the cream of the crop.

3 percent of the original 10,000. Now we are dealing with delta force. The army rangers. The seals. Seal team six even. The SWAT team.

These are the elite. Ok Gideon. Tell the guys this is the battle plan. Ok men. 300 of them.

300. Against 100,000 Midianites. Here is the plan alright. Just arm ourselves to the teeth. Well we are not going to use swords. Ok. And we are not going to need shields.

And we are not going to need helmets or any of that stuff. Ok. So we are going to start with this. Torch.

Ok now put a clay pot on the torch. Beat the Midianite. No. No.

Don't beat him. Just put the pot on the torch. Right. Ok. What else do we have? Trumpet. Trumpet. Yeah. I want you to run down the hill.

I want you to say for the Lord and Gideon then crack your little pot and then the flames out and then blow your little trumpet. That is it. That is it.

I love this. It is crazy. It is illogical. It is biblical. And they did it. And so they come down the hill. So here are the Midianites.

It is dark you know. And they don't know what is going on with Israel. All of a sudden they hear this noise and commotion and then they see these torches suddenly and then they hear these trumpets and they think it is some massive army coming to destroy them and they get so confused and discombobulated they start killing themselves. So by the time Israel gets to the camp the Midianites have all killed themselves effectively. I mean this is an amazing victory. Of all the upsets celebrated by military historians or even sports fans none is more amazing than this one that God accomplished through Gideon. They were basically outnumbered 450 to 1.

Yet Gideon's army won a crushing victory over the Midianites. Say well that is a nice little Bible story Greg. Thank you. Can we go home now?

Not yet. Because we read these stories for a reason. They are not just here to entertain us. They are here to instruct us. So what do we learn from this story?

Answer. We are in a battle. We are in a spiritual battle. And it is a war that is not fought with normal weapons. Ephesians 6 12 says, We are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule the world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realm.

See here was the problem with those soldiers sent home. They underestimated the enemy. Don't underestimate your enemy. The enemy, your adversary, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Don't underestimate him. But at the same time don't underestimate your God either.

Your God is greater than your enemy but your enemy is powerful so you need to have a healthy respect for that and understand how to fight with this enemy. This war is not going to be won by clever strategies or plans. We are not going to win this spiritual slash culture war with boycotts or protests. We are not going to win it by withdrawing. We are going to win it by praying and preaching.

There is a popular book out right now that I have heard talked about a little bit where this author talks about the time has come for the church to pull back and withdraw. He says the best way to fight the flood is stop fighting the flood. So he says withdraw. We can't win this battle.

I beg to differ. I don't think this is the time to withdraw. I don't think this is the time to retreat. I don't think this is the time to back off. I think this is the time to step up our game and go into attack mode.

You agree? You say well Greg you are scaring me. Attack mode. Attack mode. You are talking about like we are going to get weapons. No. No. No. I am saying we are going to use spiritual weapons.

What are they? The best weapons we have in this culture are praying for people's hearts to change and the proclamation of the gospel. This is not the time for isolation. This is the time for infiltration.

This is the time for permeation you see. And so this is a real battle and we need to fight it with spiritual weapons and do everything that we can do to make a difference. So listen.

In closing let me say make your stand in your home. Make your stand among people that you know because Jesus is looking for men and women that He can use. There is an English preacher John Wesley who once made this statement and I quote, Give me a hundred men who love God with all of their hearts and fear nothing but sin and I will move the world. End quote.

That is good. Think about that. A hundred men who love God with all their hearts and fear nothing but sin. A hundred women. A hundred people. There is more than a hundred people in this service right now. There is more than a hundred watching in our other sites right now. In fact there are thousands of people watching in all of our Harvest sites.

But here is my question. What if we could find just a hundred. Just a hundred who would love God more than anything else and fear nothing but sin and say alright Lord I want to be a world changer. Alright Lord I want to go out there and make a difference. God can do a lot with a little. God can do a lot with you. God effectively changed the whole culture through one man who is willing to stand in the gap and make a difference and the Lord can do the same today with an ordinary person just like you who will say Lord I am willing to be that man.

I am willing to be that woman. God will often use the unqualified to do the unexpected. He will often use the unqualified to do the unexpected.

Will you step forward? You know we read in our story that Gideon tore that altar of his father down at night. It reminds me of another story in the Bible of Nicodemus.

Remember him? A religious man. A person that others looked up to who came to Jesus by night. And he said good teacher we know that no one can do what you do unless God is with them. And Jesus just said hey buddy you must be born again. I love the way Jesus just cut to the chase with Nicodemus. Nicodemus let's just get down to the bottom line.

You need to be born all over again. Yeah Nicodemus came at night. Probably was afraid to be recognized.

Was concerned about the opinions of others. Not unlike Gideon. But he came to Jesus and that is the most important thing. I don't care when you come to Jesus day or night. I don't care if you come because it is crisis or if things are going well. The main thing is that you just come to Jesus.

That is all that matters. Just come to Jesus. And you know Jesus says, He that would come to me I will in no way cast out.

I won't turn you away. Do you need to come to Jesus today? Do you need His forgiveness? Maybe you are not even sure what will happen to you when you die. You would like to know you will go to heaven but you think that can't be known.

Yeah it can be. Through prayer. By saying, Lord I am sorry for my sin and I believe that Your Son Christ died for me on the cross and I want to believe in Him and I want Him to come into my life and forgive me. And God will do that for you right now.

He will forgive you of all of your sin. So let's pray. Father I pray now for any person here or any person watching and listening who does not yet know You.

Help them to come to You and believe in You and be forgiven of all of their sins. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Pastor Greg Laurie with an important prayer. And if you would like to make a change today in your relationship with the Lord, Pastor Greg will help you do that in just a moment before today's edition of A New Beginning concludes. If you missed any part of today's message, you can hear it again at harvest.org.

The study is called What to Do When the Odds are Against You. Or ask for a permanent copy on CD when you call us at 1-800-821-3300. We're here to take your call 24-7 at 1-800-821-3300. But we're pleased to have Sally Lloyd-Jones with us today. She's just released her new resource for the holidays called The Jesus Storybook Bible, A Christmas Collection. And we're happy to make that available to our listeners today. Pastor Greg. Sally, the Christmas story is obviously so familiar.

Maybe we've heard it so many times we stop hearing it. And what I love about what you've written here is as I read it I was just carried away with it. It was delightful. And you seem to have a way of coming at things not in the predictable way one always expects.

And so when you put this project together and wrote these words, what was your objective? Well, I love the idea that really, you know, where does Christmas begin? If we think it begins on Christmas morning, we've missed this incredible lead up. Because Christmas begins even before the world was made in God's heart.

Because He knew all along everything. And He went ahead and made it all knowing that even though we would break it, He would send His rescuer to save us and redeem everything and make everything more beautiful for having been so sad. Right now, we're in a time where we need to hear that especially, that Christmas isn't just about Christmas Day. Christmas is about every day, because God can come into the darkest place and bring life. I think, you know, with the coronavirus, we're going into our first Christmas with COVID-19. Children have been dramatically affected by this, in many cases, not being able to go back to school.

Their whole life has been upended. And so, but you know, you can't cancel Christmas. I mean, maybe we won't have all of the pressure and the shopping issues and all the things that can kind of clutter Christmas that we've had in the past, but maybe in a way, we'll see it with new eyes and get back to the essential message of why Jesus came to this earth in the first place. I think that would be an amazing good coming out of such suffering. Because I think this year, we're all longing for going back to normal, whatever that is. But perhaps what we're going to go back to is something more amazing and will come out of this time being changed so that we don't just go back to normal. We move on with a clearer view of what this life is. Because what's really happened is we've, everything that we relied on has been taken away. And I heard someone say this funny thing that God sent us all to our rooms to think about things.

Kind of funny. But you know, if we have the luxury of being able to be well during this time, perhaps there's an opportunity here. And so I hope, I hope Christmas for children this year is much more amazing than ever, because it will address fears that they have in their hearts. And wasn't that the message of the angels to the shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night? Fear not. Of course, then again, angels often said fear not, because I think when angels appeared, people were afraid. I mean, an angel's a magnificent being, but we need to hear that fear not message maybe more than ever, don't we? Yeah, I always think it's funny that when, you know, whenever God shows up or there's an angel or something, they don't say, Hello, how are you or God loves you. They always say, don't be afraid.

And that's the thing they say most. And it's kind of comforting because it's not surprising to God that we're scared. We're very scared. We're little sheep.

We don't know. And we get very scared. But he knows, he knows that. So that's to me, that's a big comforting message of Christmas. Don't be afraid.

That's right. So if you want to bring that comforting message of Christmas to not be afraid to your family, to your children, we are offering a resource we've never offered before. It's called the Jesus Storybook Bible, a Christmas collection, beautifully written, amazing illustrations and a little button.

You can push on various pages to hear the voice of actor David Sashay read to you scriptures. This would be quite expensive if you went out into a store and purchased it, but we are offering it to our listeners for your gift of any size. We ask you to send a generous gift because it helps us continue on to bring this radio broadcast, Teach the Word of God, Proclaim the Gospel. And for your gift of any size, we'll rush you your copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible Christmas collection written by our friend Sally Lloyd-Jones.

Yeah, that's right. And we hope you'll contact us today. And thanks so much for your investment in touching lives, especially here as the holidays approach. And if the Lord is leading you to support this outreach on a regular basis, ask about becoming a Harvest Partner. You can write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514. Or call us any time 24 hours a day at 1-800-821-3300. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or go online to harvest.org. Well, Pastor Greg, just before we go, would you mind praying with the person listening who wants to make a change today in their relationship with the Lord? I'd be happy to, Dave. You know, as you've been listening to this today, maybe you've heard another voice. By that I mean, yeah, you heard me say a few things, but you heard God's voice speak to you deep in the recesses of your heart. And it suddenly dawned on you, this is what I need. Or to state it more accurately, this is who I need. I need Jesus, and I want Jesus.

But maybe you don't know how to make that connection. Let me help you. Pray this after me right now if you want Jesus Christ to come into your life. Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. And I am sorry for my sin. And I need your forgiveness right now. Would you come into my heart and my life as Savior, as God, as friend?

I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Thank you for calling me and accepting me and forgiving me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. I know that was a relatively short prayer. Maybe you felt something as you prayed it.

Maybe you felt nothing. That doesn't really matter. As God's word says, these things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. It doesn't say, so you may think you have it, or you may hope you have it if God's in a good mood.

No, that you can know it. And I want you to know, if you pray that prayer in a minute, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into your life. So congratulations. You're now a Christian. Now continue to follow the Lord. And to help you as you follow the Lord, we'd like to send you some resource materials we call our New Believers Growth Packet. It'll answer many of the questions you might have and get you started off right in your new relationship with the Lord. So get in touch and ask for it. We'll send it free of charge.

Get a new beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, CA 92514, or call 1-800-821-3300, that's 1-800-821-3300. Or just go online to harvest.org and click the words Know God. Well, next time as Pastor Greg continues his series called World Changers, we'll consider the strong man named Samson. It's a story of God's providence, the power of sin, and how to find redemption. That's next time on A New Beginning. The preceding message from Greg Laurie was made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. Sign up for Pastor Greg's free daily email devotions at harvest.org.