Sometimes Trouble Comes Our Way

I mentioned in a recent post I've been reading the book of Judges each morning for my daily time with God. Judges is a hard book to understand sometimes. There are stories that make you sit back and ask, "How am I supposed to glean some spiritual insights from this? How does this story of death, mayhem, and debauchery help me become a better Christian?

Judges 19 - 20 is just one such passage. A Levite takes a concubine. She then leaves him and returns to her father's house. The Levite pursues her and after several days at her father's house (which in and of itself is a confusing tale), begins the long journey home. Not having enough daylight to make the entire journey, the traveling group spends the night in Gibeah (a city of the tribe of Benjamin).

During the night, the men of Gibeah come to the house where the Levite and his group are staying and demand the owner of the house send the Levite out so they may "have sex with him," Judges 19:22 (God's Word Translation). The owner of the house tells the men they should not do this wicked thing to his guest and offers his virgin daughter to them instead. The men refuse, and only after the concubine has been sent out do the men leave.

The following morning the Levite gets up to prepare to leave and finds his concubine laying dead at the door. He takes her home, cuts her into twelve pieces, and distributes the pieces to the twelve tribes of Israel; (it's in the bible people, check it out for yourself).

The tribes of Israel assemble and ask, "Tell us how such an evil thing could happen," Judges 20:3 (God's Word Translation). The Levite tells the story and the people say they will attack Benjamin.

Prior to making the final preparations for war, the tribes pray to God and ask, "'Who will go first to fight Benjamin?' The Lord answered, 'Judah will go first.'" (Judges 20:18, God's Word Translation)

Israel attacks with Judah in the front and the much smaller force from Benjamin routes them, killing 22,000 men the first day. Israel cries out to God, "'Should we continue to wage war against our close relatives, the men of Benjamin?' The Lord answered, 'Go fight them!'" (Judges 20:23, God's Word Translation)

On the second day, Israel (remember, they are following God's directions here) attacks Benjamin. Once again, the much smaller force of Benjamin (Israel brought 400,000 soldiers, Benjamin had 26,700 men) routed their Israelite brothers, killing another 18,000 men.

That evening, the men of Israel retreated and came to the Ark of the Lord where they "fasted that day until evening then they sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord." (Judges 20:26, God's Word Translation) After a day of fasting and sacrifice, the Israelites asked God if they should continue the battle and He responded, "'Go! Tomorrow I will hand them over to you.'" (Judges 20:28, God's Word Translation)

The men of Israel had assembled to "right a wrong" done in their country. Prior to marching, they had sought God's council and followed His directions. Despite taking the appropriate steps, 40,000 men lost their lives in battle as a much smaller force routed them. If anyone had a right to cry, "God, why do the godless prosper when the Godly perish?" it was this group of Israelite soldiers.

As I prayed to ask God why this story exists this morning, I heard "sometimes trouble comes our way." There are Christians out there who preach that once you become a Christian, with enough faith, only blessings will come. Follow God and you will receive untold riches, blessings, and be healthy.

To them I say, read Judges 19 - 20. These men followed God, offered sacrifices, they even fasted. And yet they were routed by a smaller, evil force. Or read the books of Paul. Did ever a more zealous, Godly man live? Yet he was beaten, shipwrecked, hungry, and endured a "thorn in the flesh" that God refused to remove. If the Apostle Paul cannot get God's healing, how much faith does it take?

Yes, God is in control. But despite that, sometimes bad things come our way. They may simply be to show us that God is in control. Imagine if the Israelite army had won on the first day. The victory would not have been God's it would have been theirs. However, because they took three days, there was no question who brought the victory.

My wife and I have spent five years praying and asking God to bless us so we can in turn bless those around us. I finally came to the conclusion that I needed to bless those around us with the means God had given us right now, and not wait until I had more. Has God responded by growing our wealth, giving us more with which to bless others? No, He has actually continued to shrink our income, shrink our assets, and I think shrink our influence. Yet we remain faithful, continuing to fund the initiatives we started a few years ago despite the smaller income.

Times are tough, funds are tight, we are behind on some important bills. But each month we give our first fruits to God, add the offerings we committed to the causes we feel are appropriate based on God's teaching, and then pray the rest is sufficient to meet our needs.

Sometimes trouble comes our way. The true test of our Christianity is how we react in those times. Are you facing trouble victoriously or have you caved in to humanistic fears? Turn back to Jesus, call to him for forgiveness and follow his teachings. Then you have the opportunity to achieve victory!