PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN ( Conviction ): Father, please forgive me. It has been about almost a week since my last true quiet time with journaling. Yes, I have spent time in Your word and hearing Your truth spoken by others, but I have failed to adhere to my commitment of having a true quiet time with You and journaling about it. I am facing prior addictions and weaknesses, but mostly just coming up with excuses and/or other things to do to distract me instead of doing my quiet times with You. I do not know what I am trying to avoid from Your wisdom and guidance during our quiet times, but it seems I am trying to avoid something or the enemy doesn’t want me in Your word for some reason. Do You have plans for me that I do not yet know of, Father? Help me to understand what is really going on with me, Father, so that with Your help and grace I can fix it.
PROMISE ( Judges 20:28 ): Although this was the third day of battle, this is the first time that the Lord promised them concerning this particular event that He would hand over the Benjaminites to the Israelites. Did You fulfill Your promise to them? Well, of course You did!! They were faithful to You and proceeded the next day to battle just as You had said, even though I’m sure they were quiet weary after essentially losing the first two battles against them.
ATTITUDE ( Judges 20:26-28 ): In these verses, the Israelites were obviously distraught as they had just lost tens of thousands of their men from the first two battles which You had told them to partake in. For some reason, however, You wanted them to partake in those battles but not claim victory just yet. After the second day of big losses, they mourned but came to You again for wisdom and advice on how to proceed. When You told them to go into battle again, they did not falter and remained faithful. I hope and pray that no matter what battles I face in this life that I will always choose to go to You through them and to remain faithful to You, Father.
COMMAND ( Judges 20:18, 23, 28 ): In these three verses are three commands that are fairly identical except the third one has a promise attached to it. In the first two commands You are simply telling them to go into battle against the Benjaminites, which the Israelites remained faithful to even though they had lost thousands of men. On that third day You commanded them to go into battle again, but this time You promised them they’d be victorious and what a glorious victory it was!
EXAMPLE ( Judges 20:26-28 ): These verses amaze me. The Israelites had lost 40,000+ men on the first two days to the Benjamites, which You had told them to go ahead and attack. You never promised them victory in those first two days, however. You simply told them to follow Your command by attacking them. Whether this was a test of faith or not, I do not know, but the third day’s promise makes me think the first two days were a test. After losing tens of thousands of men, they came to You again asking what they should do. Not once do I see them asking You for victory in battle. Every time in scripture they simply ask You what they should do in that situation. I see this as them seeking Your will for their life and not trying to gain Your blessing over their own will for their lives. They just lost the battles two days in a row, yet they still are faithful to You and committed to You enough to simply ask the question of should we again fight or not? You answered the question with a command to fight and a promise of victory! They remained faithful and did what You told and reaped the rewards only a promise from You can grant them!
*DAILY NOTE: Wow! This is a powerful chapter! I can’t even imagine losing so many men in battle yet still going into battle as Your faithful servant without begging or petitioning You for a victory. They literally just asked what YOUR will was for them and then were faithful to Your will for them without any arguments. Help me to be more like the Israelites here, Father, instead of always trying to do my will for my life. Help me to be more like the Israelites here, Father, instead of always trying to get Your blessing for my decisions and neglecting to ask You what You want me to do. Thank You for such an amazing quiet time today, Father.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
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