It’s the time of the Judges—a season in Israel’s history when, as the Bible says, “all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25, NLT) There’s chaos, confusion, and fear. For seven years, the Midianites have been oppressing the Israelites, raiding their crops, stealing their livestock, and driving them into hiding.
And that’s where we meet Gideon. Not on a battlefield. Not in a palace. But in a winepress—threshing wheat, hiding from the enemy. He’s not just surviving; he’s hiding in fear and shame.
Here’s the first point: God finds us in our hiding places. God meets us right where we are, even in the places we’d rather not be. Even in our fear, our anxiety, our sense of being small and overlooked.
Gideon is in a pit, literally and emotionally. In need of discovering something. He needed a map, a compass, a direction. And that’s where God shows up. God shows up with Gideon’s true north.
The angel appears and says, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” (Judges 6:12, NLT)
Gideon must have looked around, thinking, “You talking to me?” He’s the youngest in the weakest family in the weakest tribe. He’s the least likely candidate.Gideon needed to find his TRUE NORTH…he needed something bigger, stronger, wiser than himself. He needed to find God in that winepress.
God sees what we can’t see. God doesn’t see us through the lens of our limitations, our failures, or our fears. God sees our potential. God sees who we can become. That’s true north. That’s the power. Not in Gideon. Not in us, but Christ the Lord through us.
Throughout Scripture, God chooses the unlikely: Moses, who stuttered. David, the forgotten shepherd. Mary, the teenage girl. God delights in using the overlooked and the underestimated.
Gideon protests, “How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest…and I am the least in my entire family!” (Judges 6:15, NLT) But God’s answer is simple: “I will be with you.” (Judges 6:16, NLT)
Gideon isn’t instantly transformed. He’s still afraid. He asks for a sign. Then another. Then another. He puts out a fleece, asking God to make the fleece wet and the ground dry, and then the opposite.
Friends, God is patient with our doubts and fears. God doesn’t shame Gideon for his questions. God doesn’t demand instant courage or perfect faith. God walks with Gideon through his uncertainty.
Maybe you’re in a season where you’re questioning, doubting, or afraid. God is patient. God meets you in your questions. We all need a TRUE NORTH. When God is our true north, we can know He is working on our behalf, even when we cannot see it.
Gideon gathers an army—32,000 men. But God says, “That’s too many.” So Gideon tells everyone who’s afraid to go home. Twenty-two thousand leave. Ten thousand remain. Still too many.
God whittles the army down to 300 men—against an enemy as numerous as locusts.
Why? Because God wants Gideon, and everyone else, to know that the victory doesn’t come from human strength or numbers. It comes from God.
The kids in VBS , this week learned how they can trust the Lord as their true north. Most of us need to relearn that lesson today. God uses our weakness, not just our strength. Our limitations are not obstacles to God—they’re opportunities for God to show up. When we are weak, God’s strength is made perfect.
Gideon and his 300 men don’t win by fighting harder. They win by trusting God, by stepping out in faith, by doing what seems foolish—blowing trumpets, smashing jars, holding up torches. The enemy panics and turns on itself.
Mom, Dad, boys and girls, students and church - The underdog story is for us. Maybe you’re in a winepress season. Maybe you feel overlooked, under qualified, or afraid. Maybe you think God only uses the strong, the bold, the obvious.
But what if God is calling you, right where you are? What if your weakness is the very thing God wants to use? What if being an underdog isn’t a liability, but an invitation? What if all you are missing is your true north?
Wilma Rudolph—From Polio to Olympic Gold
Let me tell you a true story…
Wilma Rudolph was born in 1940, the 20th of 22 children in her family. As a child, she contracted polio. Her left leg was twisted and weak. Doctors told her she would never walk without braces.
But her mother refused to give up. Wilma endured years of therapy. She wore a leg brace until she was 12. Then, one day, she took it off—and walked to church. She started running. She lost races—lots of them. But she kept running.
By high school, she was the fastest girl in her county. She qualified for the Olympics at 16. In 1960, at the Rome Olympics, Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals in track and field—the first American woman to ever do so.
The girl who was told she would never walk became the fastest woman in the world.
Wilma once said, “The triumph can’t be had without the struggle.”
She was an underdog. But her struggle became her strength.
So, friends—where are you hiding? What are you afraid of? What excuses are you making?
What if you brought those to God today? What if you stopped waiting to feel ready, and just went with the strength you have? What if you trusted that God is with you—even in your fear, even in your questions, even in your hiding?
Because God is still in the business of calling underdogs. Of showing up in unlikely places. Of turning the least into leaders, the hidden into heroes.Maybe…Just maybe, here on VBS Sunday, we might learn what our children learned this week. The true north we seek is found in our Creator.
So, wherever you are, whatever you’re facing, however small or insignificant or unqualified you feel—
Go with the strength you have.
Because the God who called Gideon out of the winepress is calling you.
