From Fear to Faith

Judges 8:9

And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.

The faith of Gideon is an amazing faith. We first see Gideon hiding in fear of the Midianites stealing his food. When God came and called him a mighty man of valor, even then his faith was lacking; however, he had the faith to listen to God and obey what God told him to do.

Now, we come and see him after the initial battle against the Midianites, and as he is conquering these people battle-by-battle, he comes to the men of Penuel and asked for some bread to eat for he and his army. These men told Gideon that they would not give him any bread until he had defeated Zebah and Zalmunna. I want you to notice the faith of Gideon by what he said to these men of Penuel, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower. The little phrase, When I come again in peace is a statement of faith. Gideon was no longer a man of fear, but he was a man of great faith.

How did his faith get this great? It started with a little faith, but it was built by acting on faith. Faith acted upon will always build a greater faith. You will never have a great faith until you act upon the faith that you have. We want the faith to see great miracles, but we will never see those great miracles until we act upon the faith that we have. Let me share Gideon’s actions that brought him from fear to faith.

First, he obeyed God's Word when he was living in fear. Faith always starts with the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You will live a life of fear if you don't spend time in God's Word daily. God's Word builds our faith and allows us to go from fear to faith. People who avoid hearing God's Word through preaching and the reading His Word will live a life of fear because God's Word stirs us to step up from where we are to live a life of faith.

Second, he took the faith he had and acted on it. Gideon did not have much faith when he started, but he started with the faith that he had. You may not have much faith, but you cannot grow your faith unless you act upon whatever amount of faith you do have. Stop worrying about not having the faith of another, but act on the faith that you do have, and what you will find is that your faith will grow as you act on faith.

Third, he obeyed God completely. You will never have a great faith without complete obedience to all that God tells you to do. Too many want to obey God on their terms, and they miss the great miracles that God has for them by faith. You cannot have a great faith by expecting God to abide by your terms. Those who had great faith threw out their terms and lived by God's terms, no matter what His terms were.

Fourth, Gideon separated his life from the fearful. Judges 7:3 says about Gideon, “Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.” You cannot have a great faith when you associate with those who have no faith. Surround yourself with people of great faith, and you will find they will stir you to live more by faith.

My friend, God does His great works through those who are willing to act upon the faith they have. The Luke 6:38 principle applies to this truth; if you give the faith you have, God will give you more faith until you have a great faith. It all comes down to you acting upon the faith that you have in order to go from fear to great faith.