A Call For Courage – Dr. Charles Stanley

We learn to respond to the tests and trials of life by facing each new challenge with courage and faith in God. When we’re afraid and don’t know what to do, the Lord will encourage us if we trust Him. Dr. Stanley depicts through the life of Gideon how God walked him through challenges and rewarded his courage and obedience.

start your day off right with the free InTouch devotional subscribe [Music] today in touch the Teaching Ministry of Dr Charles Stanley next on in touch a call for courage well God has a plan for your life but not only that he has many plans for your life he may have an overall plan for your particular life as he does all of us but there are many plans among that plan decisions we have to make things he wants us to accomplish in life but whatever they are we know this for sure his plan is always the best plan it always bring him glory and we

know that we always have his presence in his power in our life to fulfill whatever that plan may be and you may be in a situation this morning that things aren’t going too well for you you feel discouraged maybe it’s in your relationship with somebody maybe it’s your finances maybe it’s your health whatever it might be you just feel like you’re being tested you’re not sure what God is up to in your life you just can’t figure it out and you’re wondering why he doesn’t answer your prayer and you feel

like you’re being tested over and over and over again well if he is testing you over and over again it’s it for a reason and what you not need to do is to learn how to respond to those tests and ask ourselves the question God what are you up to in my life what is it you want to accomplish because he always has a purpose God doesn’t do anything without a pre-ordained purpose and remember this that he’s omniscient he knows exactly all the details past present and future so whatever you’re facing in life he has

something that he intends to bring out of that that is very good well our scripture today is two chapters in The Book of Judges and I want to talk about this whole issue of the call for courage in our life many times what we face in life demands courage sometimes we don’t have it and one of the interesting things about this passage is this how often God is willing to encourage us how often he’s willing to step out far beyond what we think or expect to encourage Us in whatever we are facing in life so if you’ll turn to

this sixth chapter of judges and the seventh chapter and let me give you a little background of what’s Happening Here and if you will notice um in um this sixth chapter the people of Israel have sinned against God and here’s where they are the Bible says in verse one then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years for seven years they’ve been captive and this is the way they’ve been treated the power of Midian prevailed

against Israel because of Midian the the sons of Israel made for themselves dens which were in the mountains and caves in the strongholds for it was when Israel had sown that the midianites would come up with the amalekites and the sons of the East and go against them so they would Camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza and leave no substance in Israel as well as no sheep ox or donkey but they would come up with their livestock and their tents they would come in like Locust for

numbers but they and their camp were innumerable and they came into the land to devastate it so Israel was brought very low because of Midian and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord now why were they in such a terrible condition well the scripture says in verse 10 and I said to you I am the Lord your God you shall not fear the gods of the amorites in whose land you live but you have not obeyed me they were where they are because they disobeyed God and I think this is the same question some people ask they say well Lord why why

are you allowing these things to happen in my life and it’s this very issue here that brought Gideon to face the fact of where he was in his life and so there are several things I want you to get from this passage of scripture most of all is this I want you to see how God again and again and again is willing to encourage us when we’re afraid when we don’t know what to do next or when we we feel like everything is against us there is a continuing message of encouragement so the first thing I want

you to notice is this that God calls Those whom he’s equipped for the task he has in mind that is whatever God calls you to do he’s already equipped you it would be unfair for God to call you to do something he’s not equipped you to do that doesn’t mean that you’re not to improve on your a particular call and get an education or keep training whatever it might be but whatever he’s called you to do he has equipped you to do it and often times people would say well you know God just hasn’t called me

to do thus and so and I can’t do this and I can’t do the other but often times we’re the ones who make that determination and if you already decided that you can’t do something that God wants you to do then you won’t be able to do it listen to how God spoke to Gideon in this 11th verse and 12th verse of chapter 6 with all of these things going on now and and the Midian and the malachit just giving them a terrible time then the angel of the Lord came and said under the oak that was in Oprah

which belonged to joash the azerite to his son Gideon was beating out uh wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the midianites because they’d come up and take everything they had the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him the Lord is with you oh Valiant War you well you can imagine how he thought what do you mean Valiant War you because we’re hiding and and trying to escape the malachit and the midianites because they steal and take everything we have and the scripture says the Lord looked at him and said go

in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian have I not sent you and of course he was probably shocked at this didn’t feel qualified capable so when God begins to work in our life he understands that sometimes we need courage and what I want you to see in this passage and I’ll say this over and over again he uses this passage to be an encouragement because here’s Gideon to whom he said in the very beginning oh Valiant Warrior so he could not have said anything to a young Israelite that would be a greater reason

for him to have courage and so forth oh Valiant Warden he didn’t feel that way why did God say it watch this because God knew what he was going to do in Gideon’s life and often times he will God will speak to you and prayer or through his word and say something to you that doesn’t make maybe make any sense to you at that particular point and yet God is doing something getting you ready for something very significant so when you look at Gideon’s life here and how God used him uh and I would say

even the most uh uh courageous person often times needs that encouragement so uh in this sixth chapter and um the 36th verse I just look at that for a moment um God had called Gideon for a task it appeared to be an impossible task and he did sort of what any one of us would do so what did he do scripture says in verse 36 then Gideon said to God if you will deliver Israel through me as you have spoken yes what you’ve said God you said you’re going to deliver Israel from the midianites and the malachit if this is what you want if

this is what you going to do behold I’ll put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor and if there is DW on the fleece only and it’s dry all around on the ground then I’ll know that you will deliver Israel through me as you’ve spoken so what happens next morning he wakes up and the scripture says he arose early in the morning squeezed the fleece he drained the DW from the fleece a bowl full of water what did he ask for he said God if you’ll do this I’ll know this is it I just love this verse then a

Gideon probably ducked his head and said God please one more time please I just need to know I just please please give me just a little more assurance and so what does he do he says then Gideon said to God do not let your anger burn against me which is what we feel and Lord don’t get upset but what I’m asking is if you’ll do this once more that I may speak once more please let me make a test once more with the fleece let it now be dry only on the fleece and let there be due on all the ground God did

so that night for it was dry only on the fleece and doe on all the ground here’s what God is saying to us he’s look I know where you are I know sometimes you have doubts I I know sometimes you feel like you can’t do what I’m asking you to do trust me just trust me and so you and I don’t have to throw out fleece because we’ve got promise after promise after promise of God’s will we’ve got experience after experience and illustration after illustration how God leads and guides and caucus we we we

have everything we need to trust God they didn’t have that and so what happens he says Lord if you’ll just if you’ll just show me this this is what I’m willing to do little did he know that that was one test in his life but that was not going to be the last one and so uh God is getting him ready uh to go to war he called him oh Valiant Warrior and now he’s been testing him and finding him true and he has been encouraging over and over and over again now when you find out what God is asking him to do

you’ll understand why he needed encouragement and why God gave it to him and sometimes I think we feel weak if we say now Lord you know I don’t I don’t know how to handle this and I just I just need some help all of us have been there and you know what all of us are going to be there again and again and again when we don’t know what to do in a given situation or it looks like that Situation’s impossible and how many times have I heard testimonies of people who’ say you know I just knew it was all

over there there’s no way in the world to save this marriage and God did thus and so or I knew that there’s no way for me to get this promotion because other people were much more qualified than I was and so I just you know I just prayed oh God please help me and sure enough they got it and you can just go list after list after list of things that people have about given up on and trusted God and how he came through because listen listen he’s a god of awesome love he wants to demonstrate his power and his love to us if we were keep

our hearts clean and obedient to him and just trust him just trust him then he’ll do exactly what he asked us to do because he’ll do it through his n we said in the very beginning whatever he calls us do we have his presence and his power we have the promise of those two things God you called me to you got to be with me God youve called me to you got to have your strength and your energy your power and your wisdom and your knowledge to get it done he’s always there to help us get it done now when you come to this next next test of

Gideon all of us would have had a reason to say oops and yet God had answered his prayer he said Lord now I I’m throwing out this fleece and he did it twice now for it to happen twice that leaves Gideon without any defense and argument so look if you will in the seventh chapter now and beginning in this verse verse then jeruel that is Gideon and all the people who were with him Rose early and camped beside the spring of Herod and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them by the hill of Mor in the

valley the Lord said to Gideon the people who are with you this is his army now the people who are with you are too many for me to give Midian into their hands for Israel would become boastful saying my own powers delivered me so he tells him why now therefore come Proclaim in the hearing of the people saying whoever is afraid and trembling let him return and depart from Mount Gilead so 22,000 soldiers returned and left 10,000 God are you sure you did the right thing here 22 words that’s two out of every three

left suppose you’d have been the general and what you said you said because you probably were totally convinced that all those men were courageous and bold I would never let you down Gideon and two out of every three I’m go home and what they were saying is we’re scared well that left him 10,000 that’s 10,000 against 135,000 that’s pretty bad odds so God said to him well that’s pretty good but that’s not good enough then the Lord said to Gideon the people are still too many and I imagine Gideon

was about to flip over at this point you better say that again God I didn’t quite get that then the Lord said to Gideon the people of but still too many bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there therefore it shall be that of those I say to you this one shall go with you he shall go with you but everyone of whom I said to you this one shall not go with you shall not go so he said now I’ll determine who’s going you got 10,000 I’ll determine who’s going to be with you and who’s not

and then so he brought them down to the water the Lord said to Gideon you shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps as well as everyone who kneels to drink now the number of those who lapped putting their hands to their mouth was 300 men but all the rest of the people knel to drink water now here’s what he’s saying and he was this is the way God was working he said If he if he Stoops down and does this you keep him but if he kneels down and he’s looking at the water send him

home because that says that he’s not sensitive he’s not being cautious he’s not being alert he’s looking at the ground looking to see where the enemy are so what is that leing 300 he had to be thinking God what are you let’s go back and recount this a little bit Lord and re-evaluate this and see if what we can do the Lord said to Gideon I will deliver you with the 300 men who leapt and will give the midianites into your hand so let all the other people go each to his own home so the 300 men took the

took the people’s provision and their trumpets into their hands and Gideon sent all the other men of Israel to his tent but retained the 300 men and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley and I’m sure Gideon must have thought now let’s go back and count this again do you mean 3,000 no or maybe 30, no 300 now watch this listen carefully it doesn’t make any difference what you and I have or don’t have when God commands us to do something remember two things you have you have the power of God and

the presence of God with you and when you have those two things it doesn’t make any difference what somebody else has or how armed they are or how much they have or whatever it might be when you have the power of God and the presence of God you’re always a majority and you’re always better armed better equipped at every turn he’s encouraging him now so um now that he has 300 what do you do with 300 men against [Music] 135,000 have you ever been in a situation that looked impossible to you so let me ask you if you were what

did you do did you give up and quit what did you do when you felt like you the odds were against you and in life no matter what you could give lots of reasons just to give up and quit but remember this it doesn’t make any difference who you are when Jesus Christ is your savior and the Lord of your life and you’re walking in his will you are always a majority no matter what because that is the will and purpose of God it’s when we get discouraged it’s it’s when we forget who we are it’s when

get what God has said to us it’s when we forget the fact that he said I’ll never leave you nor forsake you I’m going to be right there with you the holy spirit will be living on the inside of you giving guidance and Direction and empowering you for your life whatever it might be and so with that promise of almighty God here’s what Gideon did God showed him what to do now remember all these other folks are in the valley so in the mountain tops all around he said we’re going to split up in three groups

in each group and we’re only going to have a pitcher and a torch and the trumpet now I’m sure they had a weapon at some point there and so here’s what we’re going to do we’re going to all line up around the valley and so when they look all they’re going to see is light and when they look they’re going to be shocked because they’re going to what they’re going to see is going to be different from what’s going to happen so what do they do they get in position and Gideon breaks his picture

they all break their pictures and remember this they’ve been down their sleep some of them were at least most of them probably and all of a sudden they heard this crash all around the mountain well having it all around the mountain sent them a bad message we’re surrounded and after that happened all these torches go up what does that say we are really surrounded all this noise and all this fire and everywhere you look everywhere you look there’s there’s no way out of here so what do they do they get excited they get up in the

night they get their sword they go out they can’t see who the enemy is and they probably feel like the enemy is are of this they start killing each other and the truth is they wiped out enough of each others and those who escaped they finally caught them and killed them that God gave him an overwhelming Victory now Gideon didn’t even have to draw a sword think about how ridiculous this is you going to war with a torch and a picture to cover it and a trumpet that’s for orchestras and bands that that’s not for Warfare

but listen god listen carefully can use anything and anybody to accomplish his purpose and you recall what did he what did he use what did he use with David stone and a sling not a sword nor Shield which says that God can use you no matter who you are if you’ll be sure that your life is clean and obedient before God no matter what you fa in what situation what the problem may be God and you together can be victorious no matter what that’s who he is and so what happens 300 men watch all these midianites

and all of these all of these enemies all of them malachit midianites wipe out each other and the ones that were left they caught them and beheaded the leaders and Gideon had an awesome Victory and over and over and over again what did God do he gave him enough encouraging experiences that he didn’t get discouraged so when you look at this whole chapter and you see how God worked in their lives what’s the message what is the message from this scripture so I want you to get the following things I’ll put them on the

just a moment I want to give you five statements because these are five of the things I want you to remember primarily first of all is this don’t underestimate what God can do in and through you no matter who you are he does the most amazing things through sometimes the people who expect their least don’t underestimate what God can do in and through you secondly God will always be with you in whatever he called you to do he’s always there I’ll never leave you nor forsake you no matter what all your friends May

forsake you you may feel alone you may feel deserted you may feel helpless but you’re never helpless because you have him the third thing is this he’s ready to give you Assurance when you doubt him everybody doubts some things that at some point in life and there’s not anybody who says I’ve never doubted we’ve all hit those situations where we have doubted at least for a few moments or brief period of time until God did something in our life to remind us and to show us that we could trust him so

he’s ready to give you Assurance when you doubt him number four his ways are often surprising and challenging but always the best and the most successful everywhere Gideon intered he was being tested and the greatest test of all was when he took upon himself to war against the 135 of thousand of his enemy God was with him and he surprised his innumerable host and he simply did the will of God but before he suppose he has said now look God this we got to do this some other way first of all we were up on the

mountain top they’re down there how are we going to deat defeat them if we were up here and they’re down there that was if you’ll think about it it was totally unreasonable now watch this sometimes God will do things in your life that are totally unreasonable I could name a few in my own life like you probably can totally unreasonable but what happens if it’s of god it works there is no way to fail being obedient to God and that brings me to the last point he always works in a way that exalts him and brings him glory

that’s the way he operates if you willing to die to yourself and surrender your life to holy God through his son Jesus Christ he will accomplish in your life more than you expect more that you than you anticipate more than you think you worth He will accomplish in and through you his perfect will so I want ask you this question who’s running your life anyway are you living by your decisions or are you asking the Lord to give you guidance and Direction each day of your life you said I’m not even a Christian

well let’s talk about it if you’re not here’s what you’re saying I’m sufficient I’m adequate I can handle my life the way I am I don’t need God this is the god that created you this is the god who’s given you breath life this is the god who’s given you opportunities and abilities and talents and skills and you’re telling telling him you don’t need him that is a foolish statement it is a disastrous statement you looking God Almighty in the eyes and telling him you don’t need him when your next

hs coming from him what you really need is the death of his son applied to your life what he did at the cross paid your sin de in full and the only way you’re going to die and go to heaven is accepting Jesus Christ the son of the Living God who died an atoning death a sacrificial death a death that made it possible for your sins to be paid for and you to have your sins forgiven and spend eternity with him that’s the only hope that you have look around you look at what’s happening to people who living

in sin you don’t even have to read the Bible just look around you and then look at people who are trusting God and walking in relationship to him God will transform your life he will do in you and through you more than you ever expect but first of all he must have your heart he must have your surrendered will so he can call plays and because he wants the glory that’s the opportunity you have and if you’re willing to ask him to forgive you of your sins and surrender your life to him he’ll do it

instantly you say well then what do I do you just keep listening and keep watching week after week after week God will lay one truth on you after the other teach you how to walk a Godly walk and deliver a Godly life and that’s my prayer for you father how grateful we are you’ve made it simple for us to be saved to Simply confess our sins to you acknowledging that you’re the Lord God and that our sins have separated us from you and only by the shed blood of Jesus at Calvary are our sins atoned for I pray for every person who’s

listening or watching that your spirit would speak to that person right now you know where they are the kind of trouble they’re in heartaches burdens emptiness loneliness frustration fears and father you know exactly what it’ll take to change all of that give them the wisdom and the courage God to call upon you and seek your face and believe in their heart that you will hear and answer their prayer and we pray this in jesus’ name amen [Music]