GOD CAN EVEN USE SKEPTICAL PEOPLE!

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

www.godsbreathpublications.com

 

Do you consider yourself a skeptical type of person? Are you hard to convince of certain facts or information if they don’t seem plausible? Let me share a few stranger than truth facts and see if the skepticism in you begins to raise its doubting head.

 

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Apples are better than caffeine in waking you up in the morning.

 

Alfred Hitchcock didn’t have a belly button.

 

A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 years.

 

When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop, even your heart!

 

Forty people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.

 

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don’t appear until they are 2-6 years old.

 

40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.

 

Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than any other time of day.

 

Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.

 

In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.

 

The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.

 

Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are used in vein transplant surgery.

 

If coloring weren’t added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.

 

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Well how are you doing? Do you disbelieve the facts I just shared? Are eyes of skepticism looking on this paper right now?

 

We have to accept the fact that in many ways we are skeptical creatures. Unless we can feel it, touch it; prove it with scientific methods we struggle with believing certain things. This often impacts our spiritual lives as well.

 

If you don’t believe in Christ as your Savior it’s probably because you’re skeptical that He really was God in the flesh. Possibly you doubt that God would save the world through the death of such a man as Jesus. Maybe you’re skeptical that there is any life after death at all.

 

If you do believe in Christ as your Savior this often doesn’t remove the skepticism in your life. Many times you are skeptical that God has your best interests at heart. Sometimes you are skeptical that miracles still happen today. Maybe you doubt that He would wish to use you to accomplish great things for Him.

 

We are skeptical creatures by nature. It’s a wonder that God seeks to save us at all because we constantly test His patience with our skepticism, which is really just lack of faith.

 

Gideon was skeptical just like us, but as we look at his life we see how God worked in his life and used Him to accomplish great things. Even though Gideon demonstrated weak faith at times, we see that he loved God and desired to be an obedient servant. God saw these character traits in Gideon him and was patient with him as he worked in his life.

 

Possibly if we look at some situations that Gideon faced we can learn how to deal with our own skepticism and how God works with us to bring His will to pass.

 

Gideon’s first demonstration of his skepticism is when the angel of the Lord appears to him. The angel says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Gideon’s response is almost accusatory. “If the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?” Does this remind you of yourself at times? As Christians we know God looks out for us and provides for us. But how many times do we respond like Gideon when bad things happen. Don’t we normally first respond by wondering what in the world God is doing? Has He turned His head from away from us? Is He really concerned about our welfare? This is Gideon’s response as well. He wonders if God is really with Israel. Why are he and his people oppressed by the Midianites?

 

The angel ignores Gideon’s skeptical protests and instructs him to “Go in the strength you have and save Israel.” Again Gideon is skeptical of both the instruction the angel gives and God’s evaluation of him. He can’t understand how he has any skills or ability that God can use in such a task. Don’t we do the same thing? The Holy Spirit convicts you or me that we should take on a ministry or witness to someone and we skeptically declare, “I don’t have the skills. I don’t know enough. I’m not strong enough in faith.”

 

The angel tells Gideon that God will be with him and together they will overcome the Midianites. Gideon is still skeptical and asks for a sign to verify what the angel is saying is true. Wouldn’t you or I respond in similar fashion? Don’t we do this often in our own lives? We often know the right thing to do because it is so clear in scripture or we have had wise Christian counsel but we still ask for a sign from God to verify is this really His will. Here we see Gideon talking face-to-face with the angel of the Lord and he’s asking for a sign to verify the word of the Lord! His skepticism is so evident in his life it causes him to question God.

 

The angel of the Lord patiently gives him a sign by burning up an offering of food that Gideon brings. Now finally Gideon’s skepticism is satisfied and he admits that this truly was the angel of the Lord.

 

You would now think that Gideon would have learned his lesson. You would expect that possibly his faith would have grown some so that he could trust God when he spoke. Not so. Gideon is given a task by God to tear down his father’s idol of Baal and the Asherah pole near it. Gideon does this and is obedient, but he is still skeptical, because he is afraid he might be seen and so does the task in the dark. So like Gideon we are at times. Any one of us, myself included, are very obedient to what God calls us to but often we can’t be confident of God’s provision and power. We seek to obey on our terms camouflaging our actions in case we are discovered.

 

One more illustration of Gideon’s skepticism is found near the end of Judges 6. Gideon is a great leader for he blows a trumpet to call people to his side so they can fight their enemies. Hundreds respond, but Gideon is still weak in faith. He asks God to give him a sign that he will be victorious. He places a fleece on the threshing floor. He asks God to put dew on the fleece while making the surrounding ground dry and he will believe God will give him victory. God graciously grants his request and the sign is fulfilled. YET, skeptical Gideon can’t resist asking for MORE proof. He now asks God to make the fleece dry and the ground wet with dew. God is so patient with Gideon. God is so patient with you and I. God grants Gideon’s second request for verification of victory.

 

Are you skeptical of God at times like Gideon? No matter how much you love God, serve Him or obey His Word, do you find yourself lacking faith and skeptical at times of what God wants to do in your life? The following passages may throw some light on how you can seek to grow your faith in God.

 

“Faith comes from hearing God’s Word.”

Romans 10:17

 

‘Jesus perfects our faith.”

Hebrews 12:2

 

“Testing our faith develops perseverance.”

James 1:2-4

 

The life of Gideon demonstrates that even if we lack faith, God will continue to use us. Even when we doubt our abilities and skills God can cause great things to happen as we minister in His strength. Even if we request signs from God, He may grant such requests, not because they are an appropriate way to gain faith, but simply because He loves us and knows our limitations and weaknesses. More often than not He often does not give us a miraculous sign for that would put our faith and trust in signs and not the Lord God Himself.

 

The life of Gideon proves that no matter what your background, financial status, popularity, abilities or faith, God will patiently work with you to do great things for His glory.

 

Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

 

2 Corinthians 5:7

“We live by faith, not by sight.”

 

Hebrews 11:6

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”

 

Go do something great for God this week even though you are skeptical.

With God you can do anything He wills!