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Daily Devotion: Judges 3:1-2

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Judges 3:1-2    "Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan;  (2)  Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof"

Verse 3 of this chapter lists five nations that were allowed to remain in Canaan. They were allowed to remain in order to teach God's people to battle against evil. God knew they needed time to learn to trust Him to be their Protector and Deliverer.  They still tried to lean on their own understanding at times rather than trusting the Lord. So, God said He would not drive these five nations out of the land in order to "prove by them" that Israel would come back to the place of having confidence in the Lord.

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He told us that we would have tribulation in this world. That was not a "might, maybe, or possibly" could happen. No, it was a definite promise that we would have problems and struggles in life. Our God is so powerful that He could have removed all of those struggles, but He didn't. We know all those things will be gone  when we reach heaven, but for now we must learn to fight through our struggles. There are many self-help books that have been written. Some of them actually give some good advice. But the one book that has been given to us that makes all the difference in the world is the Bible. God has given to us all that we need in order to learn how to deal with the battles of the heart and mind. What is the answer to finding peace as we go through this life? Let me close with just two of the many verses that speak to that subject.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength" (Isaiah 26:3-4)  Let us practice the art of moving our trust from ourselves to the Lord God Almighty, for therein is peace.

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