OBEDIENCE TRAINING

An athlete certainly does not suddenly have great abilities and become a champion in a competition. Long before all that, an athlete trains with discipline and hard work. There are many sorrows, difficulties, and pains that must be endured patiently in the process of becoming a successful athlete.

The Israelites did not listen to His word by not completely destroying the nations in the land of Canaan. This certainly hurt the heart of the Lord. However, the Lord actually used the remnants of the Canaanite people to train His people for war because during their time in the promised land, His people never experienced difficulties and fought against enemies. They were like spoiled children who needed to be trained to face difficulties so that they would depend on the Lord.

The Lord also used the remnants of the Canaanite people to test His people whether they truly lived obediently and listened to His word. Through this training and testing, it turned out that the Israelites repeatedly were disobedient, they actually worshipped the gods of the Canaanite people. However, the Lord always rescued them so that they could know their faithful Lord (Judges 3:9, 15).

God does not free our lives from all problems and difficulties. He allows all of that for our good, not to destroy us but to test and teach us to be more obedient to Him. Let us not avoid difficulties and problems, but through them, let us come to the Lord and learn to be obedient to Him so that in the end our faith will grow and mature in the Lord. --ANT/www.renunganharian.net