Thursday, March 28, 2019

Thursday Devotional - Battles a Blessing?


Do you think of battles as blessings? I don’t, certainly not while I’m going through the battle.
Joshua faced one battle after another. God could have rained down hail on all the Canaanites or had an earthquake swallow them up, but He didn’t. He chose to work through Joshua and the Israelites one battle at a time in order to give them the wonderful land He had promised.
Joshua 11:18-20 and 23     18 Joshua waged war against all these kings for a long time. 19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses…
23 So Joshua took the entire land, just as the Lord had directed Moses, and he gave it as an inheritance to Israel according to their tribal divisions. Then the land had rest from war.
Not only did Joshua face one battle after another, by God’s design, but God had the enemies start the conflict! I’m not rejoicing when conflict arises, but God can use it to help us grow, mature, learn and experience the blessings He has for us on the other side!
What battle is going on in your and my life right now that God might be using to eventually bring blessings?
God had Joe and me battle infertility for about 9 years because He was paving the way for us to adopt James and Sarah! Plus, He had lots of ways for us to grow closer to Him and to each other through the struggles.
What battle has God blessed you through in the past?
Let’s remember these blessings as we face new battles.
Alice

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