THURSDAY, APRIL 23
Scripture: Judges 2:21-23

Judges 2:21-23 says, “’I also will no longer drive out before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died, so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them, or not.’ Therefore the Lord left those nations, without driving them out immediately; nor did He deliver them into the hand of Joshua.” God left an adversary in front of Israel so that the next generation would prove themselves as to whether they would keep the way of the Lord. If they would not first do righteousness and then do judgment to overcome their enemies, then they were not doing the way of the Lord. That is likely the reason God left the adversity. That brings us to a question – is there adversity in our lives that God has left to find out whether or not we will keep the way of the Lord? Is that possible? We know He is the same yesterday, today and forever, so we know that it is. Is there adversity in our lives that God is leaving there to see whether or not we will keep the way of the Lord? Will we do what it takes to overcome it? If we are willing to walk in the righteousness and then do the judgment necessary to overcome adversity, we keep the way of the Lord. We are either willing to do judgment or we are not. We are either willing to go to war and fight or we are not. Are we willing to fight? Are we willing to keep the way of the Lord? That is a question we might have to face. We either are or we are not. And God may leave adversity in our lives to prove us as to whether we will keep the way of the Lord. But we cannot do judgment until we do righteousness. Righteousness is a qualifier to do judgment. Are we keeping the way of the Lord or are we not?