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Prepare Your Heart

To the best of your ability, get rid of all distractions. Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence. Then, ask the Lord to speak to you in this time. Let Him know that you will listen and make whatever adjustments He will reveal to you.

Read God’s Word

Judges 3-4
Luke 10:38-11:13

A Verse for Today

Slowly and reflectively read the following verse(s) and listen to what God will say to you through His written Word. Consider writing down any insights He reveals to you.

Judges 3:1-2 (CSB): “These are the nations the LORD left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan. This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.”

Reflecting on God’s Word

We don’t like it when life gets hard. Sometimes, those difficulties can lead us to ask, “Why?”

“Why has God allowed trouble in my life when I have been trying to live for Him?”

“What did I do to deserve the bad things that have come my way?”

When we read Judges 3:1-2, we come to understand one of the reasons God sends troubles into our lives. It is to keep us from getting weak.

In the book of Joshua, God’s people went into the Promised Land to take what God had previously given to them. Yes, it was the land God had promised to their ancestors, but they still had to fight for it. And that fighting made them tough. They cultivated a dependence upon the Lord even as they developed a hardiness that toughened them up as a people.

But after most of the land had been conquered, there was less warfare. And prolonged times of peace could have caused the descendants of those warriors to become soft. So, God left some pockets of resistance that still needed to be weeded out. This would give the descendants sufficient reason to depend on the Lord and develop personal toughness.

Judges 3:1-2 (CSB): “These are the nations the LORD left in order to test all those in Israel who had experienced none of the wars in Canaan. This was to teach the future generations of the Israelites how to fight in battle, especially those who had not fought before.”

God also wants to develop His New Testament followers. He wants us to demonstrate a dependence upon Him and toughness in our character. How does He accomplish this? By making our lives as easy as possible? Of course not. Life with the proverbial “silver spoon” in our mouths would make us weak. Only difficulties would give us the reason and motivation to depend upon Him and forge toughness in our character.

So, the next time life gets tough, don’t spend your time questioning God’s fairness. Don’t waste your time questioning what you did to deserve it. If the difficulties you are experiencing are not because you are tolerating sin in your life, then assume that God is sending difficulties into your life to cultivate dependence upon Him and personal toughness.

With this mindset, we can actually be happy when life gets hard because we know God is cultivating good things in our lives through those tough times.

James 1:2-4 (NLT): “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Spend Time in Prayer

  • Ask God to help you develop a new way of looking at the tough times that come your way.
  • Ask God to help you develop joy when things in life get hard, not merely because of the difficulties but because of the good things those difficult times will bring about in your life.

Going Deeper

If you want to dig a little deeper into why we can find joy in difficult times, consider reading the following GotQuestions article:

“What does it mean to count it all joy (James 1:2)?”

Sharing

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Matt Ellis is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Polk City, Florida (fbcpolkcity.com)