Unlikely Faith Pastor Grant Ethridge

Devotional

Day 1: God’s Labels Overwrite the World’s Tags

The world slaps labels on us—failure, unworthy, damaged—but God’s voice cuts through the noise. He names His children “loved,” “chosen,” and “redeemed” long before they feel deserving. These aren’t earned titles but gifts written in Christ’s blood. A prostitute became an ancestor of Jesus. A coward became a warrior. When shame whispers old lies, God shouts new mercies. His labels stick deeper than any identity the world assigns. [04:39]

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1, NIV)

Reflection: What label from your past still haunts you? How might embracing God’s name for you—"forgiven,” “beloved”—shift your perspective today?

Day 2: Doubtful Faith Finds Strength in Weakness

Gideon cowered in a winepress, yet God called him “mighty warrior.” Fear made him demand signs; grace met him in his hiding. The Lord didn’t need Gideon’s confidence—He needed his obedience. Weakness became the stage for divine strength. When we feel ill-equipped, God sees vessels ready for His Spirit. Victory came not through armies but trumpets, jars, and torches—ordinary tools in surrendered hands. [07:01]

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” […] “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:12, 15, NIV)

Reflection: Where do you feel “the least” right now? How might God be calling you to act despite—or because of—that insecurity?

Day 3: Dependent Faith Leans on God’s Presence

Barak refused to fight unless Deborah went with him. His dependence wasn’t weakness—it was wisdom. God didn’t scold his need for community but honored it. Together, they faced iron chariots and impossible odds. Victory came through a tent peg and a woman’s courage, proving God works through those willing to follow—even hesitantly. Reluctance doesn’t disqualify; it invites God’s partnership. [16:12]

Barak said to [Deborah], “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” […] “I will go with you,” said Deborah. “But because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.” (Judges 4:8–9, NIV)

Reflection: Who has God placed beside you for this season’s battle? How can you lean into their support without shame?

Day 4: Distracted Faith Returns to Purpose

Samson’s strength was never in his hair but in his covenant with God. Distracted by Delilah’s traps and his own pride, he forgot his calling—until blindness clarified his vision. His final prayer moved God more than his muscles ever had. Brokenness became the doorway to his greatest victory. Even wasted years can’t stop grace from rewriting a story. [33:14]

Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more.” […] He pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. (Judges 16:28, 30, NIV)

Reflection: What distraction has dulled your spiritual focus? What step could you take today to reorient toward your God-given purpose?

Day 5: Dejected Faith Rises Through Surrender

Jephthah’s brothers called him “illegitimate”; God called him “deliverer.” Rejection trained him to rely on divine approval alone. Though his past haunted him, his faithfulness shifted a nation’s future. God specializes in rewriting resumes—turning outcasts into leaders, pain into purpose. Our scars become His signature. [35:19]

Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior. His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. […] When the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah. […] Jephthah fought against the Ammonites, and the Lord gave them into his hands. (Judges 11:1–3, 11, NIV)

Reflection: What rejection or shameful chapter do you fear defines you? How might surrendering that story to God open a new narrative?

Sermon Summary

Hebrews 11 holds up faith in people who did not all look alike, act alike, or start in the same place. Rahab’s story still says that no one gets to heaven based on how good or how bad life has been, but only by faith in Jesus. God takes the labels the world tries to stick on a life and puts a better one there: loved, accepted, chosen, forgiven, adopted, redeemed.

Judges 21:25 sets the tone for the whole era: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” That line sounds a whole lot like today. Hebrews 11 names Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, and all four show unlikely faith. God did not wait for ready people. God used reluctant people.

Gideon shows doubtful faith. Gideon was hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat down in a hole, and God called him “mighty warrior.” God saw not just what Gideon was, but what Gideon could be. His fleece showed fear and hesitation, but God still sent him. God reduced the army from 32,000 to 300 so nobody could brag on human strength. The trumpet points to the Word of God, the torch points to the Holy Spirit, and the broken vessel points to cracked people through whom the light shines. God works through broken people, and that is the good news.

Barak shows dependent faith. Barak would not go unless Deborah went with him. Deborah was not trying to steal leadership. Deborah was giving the Word of the Lord and calling Barak to step up. Jael then drove the tent peg through Sisera’s temple, and the victory came through a woman who was ready when the moment came. God can use a Deborah, but God will never use a Jezebel.

Samson shows distracted faith. Samson had power without purity, strength without self-control, and purpose buried under pleasure. Delilah kept pulling until he told her everything, and the Philistines took his eyes and bound him in Gaza. Yet the hair on his head began to grow again. The thing the enemy meant to use to grieve, gouge, grind, and gut him, God used to grow him. Samson’s last cry for one more chance points to Jesus, whose greatest victory also came in death.

Jephthah shows dejected faith. Jephthah started as the son of a harlot, rejected by his brothers, but God made him a mighty man of valor. His life says it does not matter how a person starts as much as how that person finishes. Jesus is the better Judge, rejected by His own, filled with the Spirit, and sent to bring deliverance forever.

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Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[03:23] - Joshua, Rahab, and Faith
[04:39] - God Replaces Worldly Labels
[05:29] - Four Unlikely Judges
[07:01] - Gideon’s Doubtful Faith
[11:20] - God Reduces Gideon’s Army
[13:46] - Trumpets, Torches, and Broken Vessels
[16:12] - Barak’s Dependent Faith
[18:37] - God Uses Faithful Women
[23:35] - Samson’s Distracted Faith
[28:42] - Delilah and Destructive Attachments
[32:46] - Samson’s Hair Begins to Grow
[35:06] - Jephthah’s Dejected Faith
[39:13] - Faith Finishes Strong
[39:49] - Prayer of Faith and Repentance

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Hebrews 11:32 — “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—” [03:21] [05:29]

Judges 21:25 — “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” [05:51]

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 valor.’” [07:29]

Judges 4:8 — “Barak said to her, ‘If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.’” [16:12]

Observation questions

In Hebrews 11:32, which four judges are named together, and what kinds of faith are seen in each of them: doubtful, dependent, distracted, and dejected? [05:29]
In Judges 21:25, what phrase describes the spiritual climate in Israel, and how does that help explain why the period of the judges was so chaotic? [05:51]
In Judges 6:12, where was Gideon when the Lord called him a “mighty man of valor,” and what does that setting reveal about Gideon’s condition at the time? [07:29]
In Judges 4:8, what condition did Barak put on his obedience, and what does that show about his willingness to lead? [16:12]

Interpretation questions

When God calls Gideon “mighty man of valor” while he is still hiding, what does that suggest about how God speaks over a life? How is that different from the way fear, shame, or the world speaks? [08:25]
Judges says everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Why does that kind of mindset always lead to confusion and weakness, both in a nation and in a person’s life? [06:00]
Barak wanted Deborah to go with him before he would move. When dependence on another person replaces confidence in God’s Word, what usually happens to courage and obedience? [17:48]
Samson “told her everything,” and that led to bondage, blindness, and grinding. What does that reveal about the way destructive attachments work little by little before the damage becomes obvious? [31:37]

Application questions

Gideon was hiding in a hole, yet God still called him and sent him. Where is there a place in life right now where fear, insecurity, or excuses have kept obedience on hold? [10:14]
God reduced Gideon’s army so nobody could brag on human strength. Has there been an area lately where weakness, loss, or limitation may actually be making more room for God? How has that been hard to accept? [12:57]
God’s labels are better than the world’s labels: loved, accepted, chosen, forgiven, adopted, redeemed. Which false label has been hardest to shake, and which true label from God needs to be received more deeply? [04:46]
Delilahs always ask for everything. What unhealthy attachment keeps pressing for more access to the heart, time, mind, or strength? What would it look like to stop negotiating with it? [28:42]
Samson’s hair began to grow again. Where is there a need for hope that God can still restore what sin, failure, or compromise has damaged? What would “one more chance” faith look like this week? [32:46]
Jephthah’s story shows that rejection cannot outrun calling. Has rejection from family, other people, or even a painful past shaped the way identity is seen? How might God be writing a better finish than the start suggested? [37:29]
Faith does not require a strong start, just a strong finish. What would finishing strong look like in one practical area of life right now: home, marriage, purity, forgiveness, prayer, or witness? [39:13]

Sermon Clips

52s

“``You can start out the son of a harlot and end up a mighty man of valor. That's our God. I don't think children are to blame for their birth. Jephthah couldn't help who his mother was or his father was. And I think about my own family tree, my great great grandfather was named Jephthah. And now I know why. Because he was born to a single mom, raised by a single mom. He never knew who his dad was. But as a teenager, a local pastor and his wife took him in, and they raised him, and they pointed him to God. And I want you to know it doesn't matter how you start, it's how you finish.”

72s

“``After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair and so began to subdue him and his strength left him. Then she called Samson, the Philistines are upon you and he awoke from his sleep and he thought, here's that pride, I'll go out as before and shake myself free. One of the saddest phrases, verses right here in the bible, but he did not know that the lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes, took him down to Gaza, same Gaza we we're talking about today, binding him with bronze shackles. They set him grinding grain in the prison but the hair on his head began to, everybody say that word. Grow. Grow again after it had been shaved. You know, I think it's important to point out the very thing that the enemy means to grieve you, to gouge you, to grind you, to gut you, God's gonna use to grow you. Don't miss it.”

51s

“``They end up getting sent home because they didn't realize they were being evaluated for a promotion. Hey. People are watching you. People are watching you. And so they go from the 32,000 down to 22,000 and from 22,000 through this process down to 300. And and I want you to get it. You may feel like today God's reduced or God's reducing things in your life. Maybe a reduction in health or finances. But I want you to know if you've got God listen, when you're weak, he's strong. Your strength is more dangerous than your weakness anyway. Because what happens when we are strong, we trust in our strength. Listen, you don't need a big army when you've got a big God.”

51s

“``Yeah. True story. But the bottom line is Delilah was not the kind of girl you wanna bring home to your mom. Delilah had a spell on Samson he could not shake loose. Let me ask you, are you in an unhealthy relationship that you just can't break, you just can't get away from? What's God saying to you today? And and I know what these guys say because I've heard it. They say, oh, but preacher, she's so hot. So is hell. is your Delilah? It may not be another person. It may be drugs. It may be alcohol. Maybe addiction or unforgiveness or attitude. Listen, god is committed to your success but the devil is committed to your downfall.”

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Unlikely Faith Pastor Grant Ethridge | Liberty Live Church