THE IMPORTANCE OF OVERCOMING DOUBT AND FEAR.

Estimated reading time: 9 minutes

Judges 6: 1-16
Conclusion

How does overcoming doubt and fear help you in your walk with God? Today I want to talk about doubt and fear, but look at it from a new perspective. My focus today will be on Gideon’s story in Judges 6. The back story is that because of the sins of the Israelites, the Lord allowed the Amorites, Midianites, and Amalekites to rule over them. The Midianites oppressed them to the point of taking their food and reduced the Israelites to live in the caves. Imagine being in your promised land and hiding in caves. Although Canaan was God’s promise to the Israelites, it was devoid of trouble. This goes to show you that just because God is in it does not mean it will be free of problems. The kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force.

Judges 6: 1-16

Yet again the People of Israel went back to doing evil in God’s sight. God put them under the domination of Midian for seven years. Midian overpowered Israel. Because of Midian, the People of Israel made for themselves hideouts in the mountains—caves and forts. When Israel planted its crops, Midian and Amalek, the easterners, would invade them, camp in their fields, and destroy their crops all the way down to Gaza.

They left nothing for them to live on, neither sheep nor ox nor donkey. Bringing their cattle and tents, they came in and took over, like an invasion of locusts. And their camels—past counting! They marched in and devastated the country. The People of Israel, reduced to grinding poverty by Midian, cried out to God for help. One time when the People of Israel had cried out to God because of Midian, God sent them a prophet with this message: “God, the God of Israel, says, I delivered you from Egypt, I freed you from a life of slavery; I rescued you from Egypt’s brutality and then from every oppressor; I pushed them out of your way and gave you their land. “And I said to you, ‘I am God, your God.

Don’t for a minute be afraid of the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.’ But you didn’t listen to me.” One day the angel of God came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, whose son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress, out of sight of the Midianites. The angel of God appeared to him and said, “God is with you, O mighty warrior!” Gideon replied, “With me, my master? If God is with us, why has all this happened to us?

Where are all the miracle wonders our parents and grandparents told us about, telling us, ‘Didn’t God deliver us from Egypt?’ The fact is, God has nothing to do with us—he has turned us over to Midian.” But God faced him directly: “Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven’t I just sent you?” Gideon said to him, “Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan’s the weakest in Manasseh and I’m the runt of the litter.” God said to him, “I’ll be with you. Believe me, you’ll defeat Midian as one man.”
Judges 6:1‭-‬16 MSG

You see,

Because of the sins of the Israelites, God had given them over to their enemies for 7 years. When the 7-year period was over, the Israelites cried to God for Him to rescue them, God needed someone to rescue them, and He chose Gideon. He was the least likely to be chosen as the leader of an army because:

His family was the least significant of the tribe of Manasseh
He was the youngest of his family
Gideon was not a warrior.

But notice the names the Angel called him.

Brave man
Man of valor

God saw Gideon’s potential and not His current circumstances. He knew Gideon had it in him to defeat the Midianites and bring deliverance to the Israelites. Gideon felt very insignificant and unprepared for the task assigned. He was afraid, and he gave God all the excuses why He was not the best person for the job;

lessons to draw from the story of Gideon to help you in overcoming doubt and fear

To help you in overcoming doubt and fear you need to realize that God is more focused on your potential than your past

When God called Gideon, He knew his past and his lineage, but He was not focused on that. Too many times we disqualify ourselves because of our lineage and past, thinking that there is no way God can call us to do great things. Maybe God has called you to be a speaker, but when you know you lack the qualifications, don’t worry. God has a track record of working with the underdog. After all, nothing is impossible with Him and He makes the impossible possible.

God has so much He would like to do through you and He is not waiting for you to qualify, He wants to equip you and get you where He wants to but you have to say yes to Him when He asks. You see overcoming doubt and fear comes when you realize it is not by power or might but by the Spirit of God. God equips, commissions, and sustains. As long as you are aligned with God’s will for your life, He will equip and sustain what He called you to do. You are not doing it in your strength but His.

What is God asking you to do? Today I want you to know that God will call you to do something that is beyond you because He wants His power to be seen in you. God used David to kill Goliath. David was just a young boy when he defeated Goliath, he was not even trained in war. His brothers who were skilled in warfare could not take Goliath down but he did. And the best part was that he did not need to use something he wasn’t used to.

God will always work with what you have. David had stones and a sling and that’s what God used. Gideon had nothing, but the courage imparted to him by God. That’s exactly what God uses. So stop thinking you can’t do what God has called you to. The fact that He has called you to it means that you are equipped for it. So don’t be afraid.

God is patient and understanding

God did not scold Gideon for not believing in himself or for asking for over one sign from God as confirmation that God had equipped him. Our God is patient with us Psalm 103: 8 is confirmation because it tells us that God is slow to anger and abounding in His steadfast love. So do not be afraid when you feel the need to ask God for another confirmation before you do something. Taking the step after He speaks is better, but you realize that he will still give you confirmation.

Gideon said, “If you’re serious about this, do me a favor: Give me a sign to back up what you’re telling me. Don’t leave until I come back and bring you my gift.” He said, “I’ll wait till you get back.” Gideon went and prepared a young goat and a huge amount of unraised bread (he used over half a bushel of flour!). He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and took them back under the shade of the oak tree for a sacred meal. The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and unraised bread, place them on that rock, and pour the broth on them.” Gideon did it. The angel of God stretched out the tip of the stick he was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Fire broke out of the rock and burned up the meat and bread while the angel of God slipped away out of sight. And Gideon knew it was the angel of God! Gideon said, “Oh no! Master, God! I have seen the angel of God face-to-face!” But God reassured him, “Easy now. Don’t panic. You won’t die.”
Judges 6:17‭-‬23 MSG

When God called Moses to be the one to take the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses was stubborn, and he tried getting away by giving God his excuses. But God, in His patience, worked with Moses until he gave in. Beloved, give God your doubts and all your fears. He wants to partner with you and He sees your doubts, so if you give them to Him, He will help you work through them. In your journey to overcoming doubt and fear, you must extend grace to yourself in moments when you stumble. The truth this is a journey and you will fail from time to time. God is gracious, and He wants you to know that.

Never allow guilt and condemnation to cause you to scold yourself for not moving at God’s pace. You must realize that He knows where you are and He will meet you there. Whether it’s a sign of confirmation or reassurance, God will do all that because of His love for you. Remember Abraham and his endless questions regarding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah? Not once did God scold Abraham. Mind you, that was before this era of the dispensation of grace through the finished works of the cross. If God was patient then, surely He is patient now. After all, He is the same God, and in Him, there is no shadow of shifting. This simply means that He is the same God.

God hears your cry

God heard the Israelites when they cried to Him for deliverance. The only thing was He needed someone to partner with Him so He could bring deliverance to the Israelites. God wants you to take action, He will never bless what He can’t see and He will only bless you as you take action. God tells us that when we cry out to Him, He hears and answers us.

In my alarm I had said, I am cut off from Your sight. But you heard the sound of my pleading when I cried out to You
PSALM 31:22, HCSB

Even today, God wants you to know that He hears you. What do you need God to do for you? He is more than willing to. He wants you to feel free to cry out to Him. The Blood of Jesus was shed so that you can have the confidence to go to His throne so that you can seek grace and mercy in your time of need. Are you struggling? Do you need financial help? Comfort? Peace? Whatever it is that you need, cry out to God just like the Israelites did. And never forget that because He loves you, He will rescue you.

You could be the answer to someone else’s prayer and if that’s the case for you too, don’t be scared know that you are more than qualified to handle the role assigned to you.

Do it afraid

God gave Gideon the task of destroying the altar of Baal. And because he was afraid, he did it at night. He got the task done, so it doesn’t matter how afraid you are. If God tells you to do it, just go ahead. He will not only be with you, but once you are through with the task you will be more equipped to do the next one and before you know it, you will no longer be afraid. So I want to encourage you to do that which scares you.

What task is God asking you to do that scares you? I know you are scared but let me encourage you to take that step and do it scared because God got you covered every step of the way. The same way He was with Gideon, He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is with you always.

Conclusion

God does not wait for you to get ready so that He can use you, He will use you even at your lowest point and sees your potential and so when He tells you that you are the perfect person for the job, you better believe Him. God qualifies the unqualified and He will qualify you. He will not leave you but will be with you so you can always count on Him. Do not allow doubt and fear to keep you from the path God has for you. Take that first step, write that first chapter and allow Him to lead Him. God will never let you down. If He says He’s got you. Trust that He does.