Growing Your Faith

Speaker: Pastor Darin Browne

Faith is something we all aspire to, and we all want to grow in. We admire those who pray and believe God for the impossible and then see the impossible happen. Great faith is not usually something that you get zapped with, it is something that grows, often slowly but surely.

Think about it. Moses parted the Red Sea, but there were ten plagues and a burning bush before then, and each successive miracle built his faith and made it stronger. David fought lions and bears before facing Goliath. God doesn’t usually ask you to take a leap of faith, He asks for a step of faith. He’s working with you, for you and know what you need to take the next step of faith.

So, I want to examine Gideon, Judges 6 and 7, a man of little if any faith, and how he became one of Israel’s greatest judges. “Little faith will take your soul to heaven,” said Charles Spurgeon, “but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.”

1: No Faith

When we first meet Gideon, he is a timid, faithless, scared, overwhelmed nobody. Midianites had raided Israel, destroying crops and murdering people, for seven years. Gideon was winnowing grain in a wine press. Winnowing should be done where the breeze can separate the husk from the grain, but out of fear he was doing it in secret.

Judges 6:12
And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valour.”

Gideon was anything but a mighty man of valour. He was terrified and had zero faith.

Judges 6:13
And Gideon said to him, “Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

Gideon had thought about their current plight, questioned everything, and doubted God. The angel must have been mistaken, surely, he was not a mighty man at all.

Judges 6:14
And the LORD (Christophany) turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

Now when God Himself appears to you and commands you to do something, I reckon my faith would have surged just a little bit. The thing is, if your heart is this low, even a phenomenal miracle won’t change you. The burning bush saw Moses offering excuses rather than obedience, and this was the same with Gideon. The excuses began to fly.

Judges 6:15-16
And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

Gideon here was utterly devoid of faith and offered excuses rather than obedience. How often have you done that? I know I have. God asks me to step out in faith, and I give Him a litany of reasons why not! If your faith is barely registering today, pay attention.

I Saw the Sign

Judges 6:17-18
And he said to him, “If now I have found favour in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

Asking God for a sign is not an act of faith, it is an act of doubt. But God is gracious and loves you and is for you, not against you, so often He will give you a sign to encourage you. He did this for Gideon. Gideon prepared a meal for them both, and then this…

Judges 6:21
Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

Now my faith would be revving up after this, but not Gideon’s. He is still doubting.

Judges 6:22-24
Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.” But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace.

Some of you here today need to know the peace of God building your faith. You don’t need a sign, you need peace in your heart, a surety of God’s favour, just as Gideon needed peace.

Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2: Little Faith

That night God decided to build Gideon’s faith for him, by way of a test. God said, “Build Me an altar, chop down the altar to the other god, and use it for the fire.” This was a scary thing, because Gideon knew this would incense the locals.

Judges 6:27
So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

Gideon was still full of fear and had barely a mustard seed of faith, if that. But he decided to take a tiny, fearful step of obedience. God loves it when we are obedient, even if our faith is small and our mind plagued with fear.

When we wanted to move the church here, we had a God given vision, and a thimble full of faith, so we put a contract on this property with no viable means of getting the money for it. It would take a miracle. God provided a guy to buy the old property for Lily House to enable us to move here. We had to step out, we had to do the natural before God did the supernatural.

And that is a prophetic word to someone here. The priests in Joshua’s time had to step into the swollen Jordan river before God miraculously pushed back the waters. Don’t expect God to just magically make stuff happen, He loves it when you are obedient. If you have a tiny pinprick of faith, a mustard seed, as Jesus said…

Matthew 17:20
For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”

But it takes you planting the seed, an act of obedience, no matter how fearful you are. Gideon did this, and they wanted to lynch him, but his pagan father saved the day. Don’t expect it all be roses; you will face opposition when you step out in faith.

3: Struggling Faith

Gideon had to grow his faith, and he was a slow learner! He raised an army from several tribes, and he inspired them into battle. His faith, however, lagged somewhat behind!

Judges 6:36-37
Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”

Laying out a fleece is not what God wants, and it is not an act of faith, it’s an act of doubt, but God loved Gideon so much He answered the sign for him. God takes time to grow our faith. How many of us have bargained with God.

Judges 6:39
Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

Gideon knew it angered God, but he was struggling with faith. God believed in Gideon more than Gideon believed in Gideon. God believes in you more than you believe in yourself. If you are struggling with faith this morning, step out and trust. You don’t need a fleece, or gold dust in your hand or angel feathers. My God is a God of miracles, not party tricks, so just trust Him and step out. Go beyond the fleece.

4: Growing Faith

I don’t want to die until I have done something for God so outrageous that without the Holy Spirit it is destined for failure! Gideon had raised an army, 32,000 Israelites facing 135,000 Midianites. But God had another plan.

Judges 7:2
The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’

People tell me how amazing, and faith filled I am with all the miracles we have seen at Ignite and Lily House. Let me humbly tell you that it is all God, every bit of it.

Psalms 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.

I love when God does such a miracle that if you try and take credit, you look like an idiot!

So, God’s plan was to thin out the ranks. When God is on your side, the size of the enemy is of no great concern, so keep your eyes on Him.

The dangerous enemies Gideon faced were within the hearts of his soldiers. Fear was one of them (Judges 7:1–3), and it sent 22,000 men home. Overconfidence was another enemy (Judges 7:4–8). God cut down the ranks from 10,000 to 300 so that the “army” had to trust completely in God. When God strips away your resources, it is not to impoverish your life but to enrich your faith.

I found out this week that God is taking away the premises where I have practices for twenty years.

That’s a faith lesson right there. When things get tough, don’t stop, don’t give up, and don’t complain, just recognise that God is in control and trust Him.

5: Victorious Faith

So, three hundred men faced 135,000. Gideons faith had grown, but he still doubted. In the flesh, the odds were stacked against him, and God knew Gideon’s struggling, imperfect faith.

Judges 7:9-11
That same night the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant. And you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.

God does not need you to have perfect faith for a miracle, He just needs you to trust Him for that next step…then the next, then the next. That tiny mustard seed of faith can move mountains. Gideon sneakily overheard Midianites having a dream about him.

Judges 7:15
As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the LORD has given the host of Midian into your hand.”

So, Gideon, with three hundred men, routed 135,000 enemy soldiers by blowing trumpets, smashing lanterns and yelling out loudly. Gideons faith was small, needed testing and needed nurturing, but God never gave up on Him, and by God power a mighty victory was won! As another fighter called Jonathan declared…

1 Samuel 14:6
nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

How’s Your Faith Doing?

Today some of you face what seems like insurmountable obstacles. Your faith wavers, a miracle seems impossible, but it’s not by might, not by power but by His Spirit!

Some people say that if you have a need and it’s not met, then you don’t have enough faith, you need to muster up more faith. This is not God’s heart at all. He celebrates the tiny steps, He walked Gideon from zero faith to nation changing faith, and He promises to do the same for you.

God has built my faith little by little, measure by measure, in this place. We see miracles here not because of how big my faith is, but because of how big my God is! Faith is not about what you can conjure, it’s about what God wants to do. His will, not your will.

God is not a vending machine, He’s a Father, and if he decides a different course is better for you, you need to trust Him, regardless of what you or others say. He is for you and can be trusted.

There are four great truths about faith…

1: Faith is not what you decide you want to see happen; it’s about what God’s will is.

Luke 22:42
Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

2: Faith grows more when you know God more.

If you want to see miracles in your life, don’t ask God, get to know Him! My faith is this simple; I know God so well I cannot imagine Him ever letting me down.

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

3: Faith is only as powerful as the object of the faith.

Great faith in the Easter bunny is worthless. A tiny amount of faith in the God of all creation will see miracles…

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

4: Faith is made powerful when it is joined with others.

Ephesians 6:16
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

A Roman shield was not used in isolation; it was linked with other shields to form an impenetrable barrier. Your faith gains strength when you join it with those around you. That’s what Gideon found with his three hundred men, and that’s why we have Ignite Church. You are not alone. If you have a need and are struggling with your faith, let us stand with you.