Judges 6:11-17 “11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” 13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” 14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.” 17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.”

1.) God Is Not Interested In Your Circumstances, But Interested In Your Destiny!

11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.

This incident tells emphatically the tale of public distress. The small quantity of grain Gideon was threshing, indicated by his using a flail instead of the customary treading of cattle—the unusual place, near a wine-press, under a tree, and on the bare ground, not a wooden floor, for the prevention of noise—all these circumstances reveal the extreme dread in which the people were living.

Gideon was a coward! He was a coward of deluxe! He was scared, insecure and had absolutely no confidence! He was almost like us!

12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

Woah, here God is calling him Might Man Of Valor! That was quite the opposite what he was! There was absolutely no might there and no valor!

What I learnt here is that God is not into belittling us even if it is the truth! Even if we are in a state of cowardice, God will not call us by that, He will always speak the opposite, the way He sees us. Why do we care about ourselves if God sees us as MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR! – All of you – Cleansed by the blood

God is not seeing you according to your today, nor your yesterday, He is looking at you according to your destiny/tomorrow/future

I mean first of all, if God himself comes to me and calls me MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR!, Listen, I will shake the nations after that statement, but yet Gideon carried on in his complaining!

13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

This Guy was so blinded by his circumstances that he couldn’t even see God. Do some of you feel like that? Listen, he said “O, my lord”  this means in the Hebrew language, “sir”… He did not even recognize God, even after God spoke to him!

Scholars say God came in the form of a traveler! God loves to disguise Himself in our circumstances and to that which is the norm so that we can practice the ability to see deeper and look for the hand of God in our lives!

14 Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”

Listen to this! “Then the LORD turned to him..” In the hebrew this denotes

1.) – A Face being turned away, but now turning towards the person whom talking
2.) – Starting to pay attention to the designated person

God doesn’t even listen to his moaning, groaning and complaining. Sometimes people talk to us and we don’t listen, there is an element of God in that, He does it when we are complaining! He kind off like acts as if He is listening but not really!

God is not interested in your circumstances, if I can say that lightly! There is one thing which He is interested in and that is your Destiny!

God saw him in the future! God is interested in your destiny!

God is not into our circumstances but into our destiny!

Have u done that before! Have u ever tried to moan and complain to God about how bad you are? It doesn’t work! Trust me! I have tried it too much only to find out that as soon as I stop looking at my failures and into my future then all of a sudden I am surrounded by Him!

He loves to discuss our futures and destinies!

God does not want to talk to you on the issue of your circumstances. He wants to discuss your destiny!!!

God is saying, listen, I am not here to discuss your circumstances, but I am here to show you the warrior, the general whom you are called to be and whom you will be so that when you look at this awesome destiny I have for you that you can suddenly become blind to your circumstances!

Seeing the future will blind you to your circumstances!!

15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”

Check this! Now he says “O my Lord.” In the Hebrew, this speaks not of “sir” like the first but speaks Lord as Sovereignty… All of a sudden a switch happened! All of a sudden a shift and change of perception took place! All of a sudden he recognized that this is God, simply because God shared with him his future and destiny! When you see your destiny and future, a shift of your perception will take place and you will see God!!!

16 And the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man.”

It takes chaos, night, darkness to have an encounter with Him!

Instead of focussing on your self-pity, rejection and insecurities, focus on your destiny.

Gideon was in the wrong place at the wrong time and he was complaining and had no faith! If you and I don’t live in the process of our destiny in the pathway of our destiny, then we will feel like our lives has no value and purpose. You need to be in the pathway of your destiny. The only way I can be in the pathway of my destiny is to know it!

Why must I know my destiny?

2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;”

Does this means that I will never fall, never stumble, no, it simply means that when I stumble, I can’t stay down, I have to get up and keep going, because I have made sure my destiny, and my eyes are continually on it. Even though I stumble, I see destiny and gotta keep going!

How do I get to know my destiny?

Isaiah 45:15 “Truly You are God, who hide Yourself”

Are you saying Leon that God is hiding? YES!!!! You need to find Him

Prov 25:2 It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. NLT

Prov 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. ESV

2.) Seeking Him, In The Midst Of Our Night And Darkness, Brings Destiny!

Gen 32:22-31 “22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had. 24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day. 25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him. 26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.” 28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.”

I am going to use Jacob’s wrestle with God as an illustration on how to get to know our destiny! Our purpose!

“22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.

Again, this whole instance with Jacob happened in the night! Same as Gideon! You and I met God in our darkest hour!

24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.

25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.

Whoa! God saw that He was not winning with Jacob! Jacob did not give up!!! He wanted to have an encounter with God!

Smith Wigglesworth “If God doesn’t move then I will make God move”

Sometimes we just need to get right up into God’s face and not let go of Him until we have seen our future and have a changed nature and experience and encounter which will affect the rest of our days!

26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”

God said “Let me go”  God wanted to stop, but Jacob said no! Woooooo! If things look like it is falling to pieces, hold on to God!!!

Let’s make a decision today to stop complaining and start focusing on the future and destiny which God has for us!

In His Love,

Leon du Preez