TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Scripture: Judges 8:4-16

Gideon needed help after the initial battle when he was chasing the remnants that were left. Verses 4-7 say, “When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. Then he said to the men of Succoth, ‘Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.’ And the leaders of Succoth said, ‘Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?’ So Gideon said, ‘For this cause, when the Lord has delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers!’” Now the men of Succoth refused to walk in faith as Gideon had. So Gideon said when he won the victory, then affliction would come upon them and they would pay a price out of their flesh. And affliction did come on the men of Succoth in verses 13-16. Affliction from God trains us but when satan authors it, we only see it steal, kill and destroy. If we do not walk in faith, we can suffer affliction alongside those in the world. Walking in faith is essential if we are going to escape the adversity that is coming on the nation. If we refuse to walk in faith, we may go into the affliction with the rest of the sinners. We need to form our world by faith. It is an essential for us to understand this powerful, foundational truth for the days in which we live. God has not changed and affliction is still one of His major teaching tools.