Judges 3:4

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses." Judges 3:4 .

This may show us the part which our enemies have to play in the education and development of our lives. The Lord left so many nations, as the Canaanites, the Zidonians, and the Hivites, that they might subject Israel to continual testing to prove their quality. It is so that hardships are permitted to continue in the life. When we ask why we should be surrounded by limitations so exact, and even by opponents so hostile, we should remember that this was the plan which God pursued in the training of his ancient people. This is the divine purpose of all human affliction. God must be left to determine what tests are best for our quality. Men are not to choose their own tests and standards, but are to accept the chastening of the Lord, and to go into the furnace which the Almighty has specifically appointed. Different men are tried in different ways, but the object of the trial is the same. Your business perplexities are sent to prove your honesty; your bodily afflictions are imposed to test your courage and trust; your family difficulties are allowed to continue that the life of the household may be strengthened and refined; your bitterest rival is permitted to run his course side by side with you that your temper may be sweetened, your charity enlarged, and your whole tone of mind elevated. Thus we are brought to consider the religious uses of opposition and hardships, and to identify their very presence with the distinct purpose of God. When we can take this view of them we shall use them rather than fear them, and in due time shall come to account them as in some sort friends and teachers. "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord.'