TITLE: Unsafe ground By David McArdle 04/16/08 |
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Unsafe ground
“ … Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us … “ [Judges 15.11 NASB]
We would think, that at no time would we, genuine born again believers, be upset if the enemy lost, even a small battle. We would categorically argue that we would rejoice and praise God for the victory.
However, at the time of the Judges, a number of the Israelites were deeply troubled that Samson had defeated some of the Philistines, who were keeping them in subjection.
What was wrong with their thinking? Where was their faith? Not so long ago, they were leading the way into the conquest of the Promised Land.
They were the descendants of the great men of faith and now, they were terrified of even slightly altering, never mind breaking, the status quo.
What had happened to their faith, courage and boldness? Satan had implanted the spiritual seed of passivity, position and provision into the minds of God’s people.
They knew, from past experience, that as long as they were passive, they would remain where they were, receive all the food that they needed and that they and their families would also be protected militarily.
What about the God of the armies of Israel? Had His power been diminished? Had His people forfeited the concept of conquest for conformity to the prevailing trend of the day?
Ex-warriors and leaders had settled down to a life of non-resistance and now their children were following and adapting their lives to their bad example.
Now, many of God’s people, are living spiritually inactive lives. They believe God, talk about Him, pray to Him, but their ungodly and unacceptable situations, remain in the majority, unchanged.
It is as though they are at the fairground. They are entertained, excited and enthralled by their experiences, but at the end of the day, they are still in the same place.
When I was 15, we moved to another house. There was a lovely garden at the back, with roses everywhere, [where we later built an aviary], but internally, all of the bedrooms needed a good spring-cleaning.
As we were lifting the carpets in the back bedroom, I came across some old newspapers from the 1920’s. At that time, Scotland had had a good football team and my local team had also done well.
As I looked at the photographs and read and re-read their exploits over and over again, I honestly wished that we could see these great days again.
Now, it is possible, that as we read some of the exploits of Samson and the other great men of faith, we may hear God saying, “I want to make a DVD of your day”. [David McArdle]
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