Judges 3:1-2 Devotion by Stephen Taylor

Judges 3:1-2

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan( He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience).

 

Sometimes, the Lord leaves things in your life to train you how to fight! There have been different battles and struggles in my walk with the Lord, different sins and pitfalls that have reared their ugly heads from time to time. Sometimes, the Lord takes them away, and sometimes, He uses them to train me! It’s not up to us to decide which is which but rather to trust and lean into Him for the victory!

 

The Lord broke the chains of my drug addiction and set me free one day in a Greene County jail, but my lust and sexual immorality was a battle that raged for quite some time. Does that mean that the Lord was more pleased to heal one instantly and not the other? Absolutely not! He used the one to train me in denying myself, self-control, obedience to His Word, and to show me that even when I fall and fail miserably, He is still there to forgive and accept me back into His arms! And He used the other one to show me His power and that I could trust Him!

 

Throughout my walk, I have probably learned as much about Who He is from my successes as my failures. Neither of them dictates Who He is, but both of them reveal more and more of His character to me! When I fail and expect judgment, He shows me mercy, and when I succeed and expect praise, He demands humility! It’s a beautiful balance, and one I’m learning more of with each battle and victory!

 

I encourage you not to give up. Some battles rage for a while and may even seem like you’re losing, but I promise you that there is only victory in the Lord! It may not always seem like it or feel like it, but our God will never fail!

 

Psalm 20:7 - Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.

 

God bless! I love you all! Glory, Honor, and Praise to God Almighty, Jesus Christ our King, and the Holy Spirit!