there is ALWAYS a WHY!

SO…last night I was reading my Bible and I came across this verse that JUST STRUCK ME. I had to stop and take note - and now I have to write it down so I don’t forget.

>> DETOUR - I will never forget listening to Pastor Sam preach at Gateway Church and saying that when we read the Bible, we should read until we are struck by something and then we should PAUSE and sit with the Lord in THAT. Don’t read to read, to mark it off your list, to get it done. But read until the Lord gives you something - He is faithful to do so because His word is ALIVE and ACTIVE and purposely transformative IN OUR LIVES. I’ve read the Bible differently ever since.

I’m reading the Bible chronologically so I’m currently in Judges I read 1 and 2 and then got to 3…here’s how it opens…
These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): 3 the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath. 4 They were left to test the Israelites to see whether they would obey the Lord’s commands, which he had given their ancestors through Moses. 

DO YOU SEE THAT? Do you see verse 2 where there are parenthesis? Oh my gosh. Dumbfounded. (He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience). I guarantee you those Israelites did not KNOW that is the WHY of the testing they were experiencing. They just experienced the testing. OH HOW I WONDER what God puts in those parenthesis in my life! I love that for one quick instant we see there is a WHY. So often in our lives we KNOW by faith that there is a purpose and intention to God’s movement in our lives and yet in verse 2 of Judges 3, He CHOOSES to show us the evidence that we can absolutely believe wholeheartedly that there is ALWAYS A WHY. Oh man how incredible would it be to see everything He writes between the parenthesis in our individual stories through each passing season, to know His heart in the testing - in the desert - and what He is trying to teach us if we are willing to turn our hearts and focus our eyes on Him. He is building our faith reminding us to trust the One who is in control - the Covenant God who is the GREAT I AM.

I tell you, I’m an Old Testament girl through and through - don’t miss the beauty of the wretched Israelites and the unceasing hope in their mess and the way they are fanatically pursued and loved by a GOOD FATHER.