Stress Test Devotional April 20
April 20, 2024
JUDGES 15:14-16 | 14 When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him, and the spirit of the Lord rushed on him, and the ropes that were on his arms became like flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. 15 Then he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached down and took it, and with it he killed a thousand men. 16 And Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.”
Shalom can only become universal through the action of God. In our broken world today, deeper forms of harmony and justice depend on a rough and incomplete order. Before there is true friendship and deep community there must be a truce in the conflict.
The period of Judges lasted several hundred years prior to the selection of Saul as king. Temporary charismatic leaders arose, when Israel was under threat from enemies, to defend the people. Othniel, Ehud, Shangar, Deborah, Abimelach, Gideon, and Samson are examples. In the monarchy this role was invested in the king and made permanent.
Are you praying for an end to conflict anywhere in our world?
