Monday March 04th, 2024
« Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine »
1The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. So the Lord handed them over to the Midianites for seven years.
2 The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites made hiding places for themselves in the mountains, caves, and strongholds.
3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel,
4 camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, goats, cattle, and donkeys.
5 These enemy hordes, coming with their livestock and tents, were as thick as locusts; they arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare.
6 So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
7 When they cried out to the Lord because of Midian,
8 the Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites. He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you up out of slavery in Egypt.
9 I rescued you from the Egyptians and from all who oppressed you. I drove out your enemies and gave you their land.
10 I told you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You must not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you now live.’ But you have not listened to me.”
Afflictions are situations that we typically pray against.
Interestingly however, afflictions have their benefits in the life of a person.
- One of the typical benefits of afflictions is that they draw men back to God, especially when faced with challenges they cannot surmount by themselves.
In our Bible reading today, we see the afflictions of the children of Israel at the hands of the Midianites and Amalekites. These two nations attacked Israel successfully from time to time causing them to suffer greatly.
These afflictions drew the Israelites back to the God of their fathers, whom they had neglected for strange gods, as we see in Judges 6:7 NKJV
« And it came to pass, when the children of Israel cried out to the LORD because of the Midianites »
God was then able to speak to them through His prophet whom they would not have listened to but for the affliction.
The Lord reminded them that He was still their God, far superior to the gods of the Amorites and the gentiles among whom they were living.
One lesson to learn from this fall of Israel is that serving other gods will always bring affliction.
Also, the environment in which a person lives or operates could lead to a departure from serving God.
Many of the sound doctrines we cherished in the past have been trashed due to globalization and our contact with the Amorites, Canaanites and Jebusites of the present age.
This has led to many ungodly practices among believers.
This in turn causes grave afflictions.
Sicknesses that were not mentioned among the believers before are now commonplace.
For example, where would high blood pressure come from when a believer’s life is full of joy and the peace of God?
A believer of old did not compete with the so-called rich people of the world and would seek God’s counsel before engaging in any enterprise.
Believers ought to be led by the Holy Spirit on what line of business they should pursue.
Failure to do this leads to loss of peace and rest of mind.
The COVID-19 pandemic is also a case in point on how afflictions can draw people to God.
All thanks to God as the Church is now retracing her steps to the old rugged way of peace and joy.
May the Lord help us, in Jesus’ mighty name.
Prayer focus – Father, heal our backsliding as a Church; have mercy on us and send Your salvation, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Author – Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
Freely you received, freely you must give (Math 10:8) , kindly share this devotion, and the Lord will bless you for it .
Spread the love of Christ by clicking on the ♥
