Challenges! Life is full of them. They may take us by
surprise or be ones that never seem to go away.
They may come from people we thought were allies and friends. In 2 Samuel 5:17 David came face to face with all of these when challenged by the
Philistines. From this new and yet continual challenge between the Philistines
and Israelites there are (at least) twelve perspective-changing facts we can
learn about the challenges we personally face.
The Hebrew word translated “Philistia” (peleshet)
is the word now translated Palestine. Their existence went back before
Abraham’s time. At that time the whole area was basically referred to as
Canaan, but was made up of a variety of different nations or kingdoms: Amorites,
Jebusites, Perizzites, Girgashites and Philistines, to name a few. Abraham and
his family actually had a peaceful start with the Philistines. (Genesis 21:22-34) Other than a dispute over
water, there is no record of conflict with the Philistines
until after the Israelites left 400 years of slavery in Egypt. By that time, in order to holds their own
against the powerful Egyptians, the Philistines had become quite
aggressive. As just freed slaves, the
Israelites were clueless to the Philistines propensity to war. But, God knew
it! Read Exodus 13:17.
God not only knows what will happen, He knows what might
happen! “Might” might become a reality if we are NOT following His lead.
Challenge Fact #1: Some challenges could and should be
avoided.
Avoiding the avoidable requires partnership
A lot of the challenges we face in our lives would have
been avoided if we were actively partnering with Him – seeking His will and
following His lead. When faced with
challenges, one of the first questions we need to ask ourselves is: “Did
willfulness lead me into this?” Our perspective on a challenge changes when we
know our choices are the catalyst of this challenge. If willfulness is
involved, then repentance, obedience
and partnership is required. Actually partnership is the required regardless
the cause of the challenge.
In Exodus 13, willfulness wasn’t involved, but willingness
was. They had to willingly follow as God routed the Israelites around Philistia
to avoid war. He knew that these former slaves
were physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, skillfully, and militarily
unprepared to handle the challenge. He
knows our state of preparedness as well.
Like the Israelites, we don’t know what we don’t know, even about
ourselves let alone what others or Satan can or plan on doing, but God does.
Challenge Fact #2: Some challenges are God’s way of
leading us around
bigger challenges that He knows we are not equipped to
handle.
Walking in partnership with God, He will send us around
what He knows we are not equipped to handle – even if it means going the long
way! Going the long way around usually
involves a lot of waiting. That in itself is a challenge. We hate waiting
because it reminds us that we are not in control. It is an even greater challenge
when we know what we want and want it NOW!
God calls it grace. He will never
let us settle for shortcuts that short change us on grace. We like quick; He likes complete. We like
straight, yet He intentionally puts curves in our road. Grace slows us down by
bending life’s road with challenges. See
Ecclesiastes 7:13,14.
Challenge Fact #3: God is not in as big a hurry to remove
challenges as we are.
He always moves at the speed and direction of grace. It requires trusting Him. As long as He permits the challenge, we can
be assured that He is not done using them for our good, His glory and grace
that benefits more than just us.
Read Exodus 23:29-30 and Deuteronomy 7:22.
Challenge Fact #4: He will not remove one challenge
if it
creates a bigger one.
God knows our current maturity, abilities and limitations. As a loving
Father, He will move at the pace of grace that stretches us, but does not
devastate us. Timing challenges require trust. His pace may mean missing a greater threat to
our well-being. Our pace may mean missing a greater discovery that redefines
our lives.
Challenge Fact #5: If God allows a challenge in your life,
He knows that He has also provided the means to endure it victoriously.
Read 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Corinthians 2:14, and 2 Peter1:2,3.
These challenges show us (and others) what we know
about who God truly is and release the fragrance of glory and grace in an
otherwise stinky situation. This grace is accessed only through partnering with
God. However, if, even in
partnership, you do not have the means to triumphantly endure it, He will not
allow it. (This is why judging others
who fall for something we are not tempted to do is so foolish. God knows we are
too weak to even be tempted in that regards.)
There are several other aspect of grace as to why God may not
immediately remove all the challenges.
Read Judges 3:1-4.
Challenge Fact #6: Challenges He allows keep us armed and
alert.
God left the challenges to keep them battle ready and
savvy. He avoided war by leading them around the
challenge when they were not ready, but kept the challenge when they were. His intent was to keep them ready. God does
the same with the challenging people, needs and situations that He allows in
our lives. They keep us spiritually on our toes. They keep us engaged. We love easy, but
easy can quickly make us spiritually lazy.
When things are “manageable” we are quick to let down our guard and lay
down our armor. Read 1 Peter 5:8;
Ephesians 6:10-18.
We need to put on the full armor of God that He
provides, not counterfeit versions that make us vulnerable in every challenge:
a helmet of false security, a breastplate of self-righteouness, and combat
boots imbedded not with the Gospel of grace, but with power and control to
offset fear and inadequacies.
Challenge Fact #7: Challenges He allows keep us dependent
on Him.
According to Judges 3:4, another reason why God left
challenges was to test their commitment, willingness, and dependency. If our
partnership is not solid, it doesn’t take much for us to coast into
self-reliance and independence. Too many have foxhole faith and good time
partnership with God. It is challenges that show us how real and solid our
partnership with God truly is.
Read James 1:2-4.
Challenge Fact #8: Challenges He allows always have a
purifying purpose.
A goldsmith or silversmith subjects ore to refining fire
to burn away the worthless and bring out the valuable. That is the intent in the challenges that God
in His wisdom, love and grace chooses to leave in our lives. They
are the surgical instruments of grace in the Great Physicians hands. (See
Isaiah 48:10 and 1 Peter 1:6-9.) God not only wants the best for us, but He
wants us to be the best: perfect, complete, lacking nothing. A silversmith was
asked how he knew when the refining process had achieved his desired goal. His response was “I can see myself in the
silver.” That is what the Lord is trying
to do through the challenges in our lives – make our lives a reflection of Him!
The Lord knows this is neither easy nor enjoyable. Paul
called the constant annoying challenge he faced a “thorn in the flesh.” He
asked again and again and again that it be removed, but God said “No!” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9)
The common understanding is that this “thorn” was from
Satan. However, the purpose of this
“thorn” or challenge was to keep Paul from exalting himself, keep him humble
and dependent on God, and fortify his commitment, willingness and dependency. These are all things Satan does NOT
want. He wants us to be self-exalting
and working against God, thus, would NOT subject us to “thorns” that keep us
from doing just that. If anything, it was a warning to NOT be like Satan,
motivated by pride. This “thorn” was an aggellos
satan. This is the only time the Hebrew word “satan” is used in the New
Testament. It means adversary or accuser. Aggellos
is a reminder or message. It was an “accusing
reminder” to Paul of his limitations and powerlessness that kolaphizei. Translated “to torment me”
simply means “to rap with the fist or knuckles to get attention.” This thorn,
this challenge, was a constant smack on the back of his head to remember: YOU
NEED GOD!
Challenge Fact #9: Challenges constantly remind us how
much
we continually need God.
We can and should ask that this challenge be removed. But
if He says “No” or “Not yet,” we have to trust Him that He is not done using it
in our lives or the lives of others. If
He says, “No,” we too can know that His grace is sufficient. We often do not know the fullness of His grace
until we go through relentless challenges.
Challenge Fact #10: Challenges increase our awareness and
understanding of grace.
When the Israelites walked in partnership with Him, they
accessed the incredible grace of God. They were victorious, often on a
miraculous level. But when they compromised their integrity, the Philistines
quickly gained the upper hand. (i.e. Judges 10:6-16) We only have to
look at the 40 year struggle Samson had with the Philistines in Judges 13-16
and all the skirmishes Saul had with them in 1 Samuel to know that problems
with them was ongoing. 1 Samuel 9:16
says that God intended Saul to “deliver
My people from the hand of the Philistines.” Saul failed to partner with God, so the
challenge remained.
Challenge Fact #11: The power of the challenge (and
the challenger) over us
gains or wanes as we choose to partner with God giving
Him the power instead.
Now that leadership had passed on to David, so did the
challenge.
Challenge Face #12: Every challenge is an opportunity to
trust and obey.
God kept giving them another opportunity to succeed. This challenge by the Philistines was David’s opportunity
to choose to partner with God. (Read 2 Samuel 5:17-25 to see how he handled the
challenge.) Every challenge we face is
an opportunity for us to choose to do this moment, face this challenge, in
partnership with Him, go it alone or simply succumb.
There will be challenges in our lives – our
Philistines. Some are much-loved family members. Some are not people at all,
but situations that can quickly send us into a tailspin if we are not intentionally
pursuing partnership with God. Some (but not all) are orchestrated by the
demonic who are increasingly threatened by what God is doing in and through
us. It is only in partnership with God,
that we access His wisdom and power in these challenges. Like David, if we seek God’s will in the
challenge, He will be there with an abundance of grace and incredible victory
(even if the challenge out lives us).
Making It Personal
How do these challenges fact
apply to the challenge(s) you face right now?
How do these challenge facts
reinforce the need for you to partner with God through your challenge(s)?
How has this altered your
perspective on your past and current challenges?
