Readings for today: Judges 2-5
The Bible talks a lot about how God uses the circumstances of our lives to test the veracity of our faith. Do we believe God is who He says He is? Not just in the good times but in the bad as well? Do we praise God only when times are calm or are we able to praise Him in the storm? Do we consider it all joy - as James 1 says - when we face trials of various kinds? Do we understand in those moments that God is up to something in our lives? Can we see how He uses all things - even worldwide pandemics - for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose? Do we trust God enough to let the testing of our faith produce in us a steadfastness that actually leads to a deeper, fully, richer, more complete faith?
The beginning of the Book of Judges makes it clear that Israel has failed. She has not followed through. She has not driven out the nations who occupied the Promised Land. This will become a massive problem for her in the years ahead but God is faithful. He will use even their disobedience for His sovereign purposes. Yes, their presence will become a thorn in Israel’s side. Yes, their gods will seek to ensnare Israel along the way. But rather than break faith with Israel. Rather than abandon the covenant He had made. God turns what they meant for evil for their good. He uses the pagan nations of the earth to test His people. Refine them. Strengthen them. Bring them to repentance. “These nations were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.” (Judges 3:4)
I do not believe God created COVID-19. I do not believe God sent COVID-19 to punish our country for our sins any more than He’s sent it to any other country to punish them for their sins. There is plenty of sin to go around. The world is full of disobedience. In what will become a common refrain in the Book of Judges, “everyone does what is right in their own eyes.” However, I do believe God is sovereign. I do believe God is omnipotent. I do believe God is omniscient. I do believe God is using this cultural moment as means of drawing the world back to Himself. The more we repent. The more we cry out to God. The more we reach out for Him in the midst of our grief and suffering and pain, the more He will make Himself known to us. After all, He promises He is with the “broken-hearted and those crushed in spirit.” (Psalms 34:18)
So the question for us today is this…will we allow God to use this testing to shape us more into the image of Christ? Or will we stubbornly cling to our self-sufficient ways? Will we trust God to use even our pain for His purposes? Or will we accuse God of falling down on the job? Will we believe God when He says He is with us always even to the end of the age and that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will one day be revealed in us? Or will we cling to the things of this world with all our might? Will we have faith to walk with open hands before the Lord? Or will we clench our fists in fear and frustration?
Readings for tomorrow: Judges 6-9