When Defeat Comes

# 59 – Today's Du-votional comes from 1Sa 4:3 And when the people had come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, "Why has the LORD defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh to us, that when it comes among us it may save us from the hand of our enemies." (1 Sam 4:3) 'Why has the Lord defeated us today?” Or we might say something today like, “Why did the Lord allow this to happen in my life? It's a common question when things aren't going right. More often than not, it is couched in the language of a complaint against God. But more often than not, we would do well to start out by examining our own lives. Are we living in ways that invite defeat? Look what was taking place in the church of Samuel's day. Eli and his sons had made a mockery of the offerings given to God. Hophni and Phineas were engaged in blatant, public sexual sin, and the people were chasing after other gods. Yet they ask, “Why is God allowing us to be defeated?” But instead of looking at their sin which was placing a barrier between them and God, they looked to a mechanical, ritualistic answer. After all isn't this what Moses did? In Nu 10:35 we read, “So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said: "Rise up, O LORD! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You." We are so like them aren't we? When things don't go right, and we think about the Lord, our first response is something like, “maybe if I went to church more, or maybe if I gave more, or maybe if I prayed more.” We look at our rituals rather than examining our relationship. Listen, when defeat comes, seek to mend your relationship with the Lord. He will get you through the hard times, and lead you to ultimate victory.