thorns, weakness, & beauty

Judges 1-4

"For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you". - Judges 2:2-3

For Israel, getting rid of the enemy was a process. Living in the promised land meant a daily battle against those living there and the gods they worshiped. So often they got tired. So often they wanted to stop fighting. So often they wanted to believe God's work with them was done.

They had the chance to completely say no to the enemy, but they had let them stay in the promised land, and now the enemy was a thorn in their side, constantly bringing temptation. Do you know what it would be like to literally have a thorn in your side? With every single step, it would bring pain, making it harder and harder to press on toward the goal. Being in your side, a thorn would sometimes even be hidden from your immediate view – but the pain would be there. Perhaps sometimes you would even grow numb to the pain because of its consistency, but nevertheless, the harmful effect it causes would still persist. It would be easy to hide this thorn from others – in fact it would be completely out of one’s comfort zone to reveal it to anyone. This would involve lifting up the garment which covers your side from view. This would involve revealing the pain and burden and torment and weakness and day-to-day breath-by-breath struggle. .. This would mean being completely vulnerable.

So why did God let this happen?

"He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle.” - Judges 3:2

He did this to teach us to fight. He let this happen so we could be painfully aware of our need for God and our own depravity. He let this happen so we could learn to fight the enemy of God with every wince of pain induced by the thorn he placed in our sides.

I’m not sure where you’re at as you’re reading this, but I have an idea of where I have been. I have let the enemy in before, I have felt the pain of a thorn pressed deeply in my side. I have believed it would be easier to stop running toward God, to just stop and breathe in deep and forget where I was even going. I have grown numb to the pain of my thorn – to the grace that I need each and every day, to the God who accepts me with open arms and loves me because of who he is not because of who I am. . . I have tried with all that I am to hide the thorns I’ve carried from the ones walking with me. I have tried to bear the burden on my own, to pretend I possessed perfection. I’m not sure what your thorn is, but I do know that there is such beauty in this mess – God uses our weakness for his good. Our thorn can be used to remind us of our constant need for God, and to test us - to see if we are willing to press on toward him even when it is unbearably painful.

"But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, the Lord again raised up a rescuer to save them. His name was Ehud son of Gera, a left-handed man of the tribe of Benjamin." - Judges 3:15

My study bible had this note about the story of Ehud:

“This unusual story demonstrates how God can use us just the way he made us. Being left-handed in Ehud’s day was considered an exceptional ability. Many Benjaminites were left-handed, making them highly specialized troops, able to use a sling or bow with tactic designed to repel right=handed warriors. Eglon’s bodyguard never checked Israel’s messengers for left-handed weapons. God used Ehud’s overlooked ability to give Israel victory. Let God use you the way you are to accomplish his work”

It was what could have been seen as a weakness or embarrassment that God used to let Ehud defeat the enemy.

"While the servants were waiting, Ehud escaped, passing the stone idols on his way . . . " -judges 3:26

To me, this sentence reminds us of Ehud’s character – in the midst of a culture turning away from God and turning to worship stone idols, Ehud passed right on by the idols without a second glance, both on the way to and from his defeat of the king. What if we could do that? What if we had the character that we could pass by the temptations of this culture without a second glance or thought?

“Very well,” she replied, “I will go with you. . . “ – Judges 4:9

Not only was Deborah (a woman) willing to prophesy to Barak, but she was willing to go with him to complete his mission. It is one thing to be willing to tell someone what to do or how to improve, but to go with them on that journey is so much more. How often do we do this? How often are we willing, not only to let someone know what they need to change, but actually help them to change it? How often are we willing to lay aside our desires and comfort to go with someone into the depths of the battle against the enemy? What a beautiful character Deborah possesses.