Why God Lets You Lose Some Battles…

In the book of Judges 19-20, a Levite man with his concubine was travelling from the city of Judah to the land of Ephraimites. The Levite passed through Gibeah, a province owned by the Benjamite’s.  The Levite with his concubine sat on the side of the street and awaited to be given a place to stay but no Benjamite offered hospitality except an old man from the tribe of Ephraim.

During the night, the men from Gibeah surrounded the house and ordered the Levite to be released so they could sleep with him, but the old Ephraim man refused and instead gave them the concubine. Sadly, from night till morning she was raped and brought back to the house dead. Outraged, the Levite man cut her body into twelve pieces and sent them to the twelve tribes, the nation of Israel, furious, and united went out to take revenge on the wicked men of Gibeah, but before they did, they asked the Lord if they should go to fight, God approved but they were decimated by the Benjamite’s. Twenty-one thousand men from the tribe of Judah died, and again they sought the Lord, God approved, and they lost eighteen thousand men from the tribe of Judah.

“Something was wrong,” they thought. The scripture records that the tribes went to offer a peace offering to God, and not long after, the tables were turned. Now, instead of them fighting, God fought for them.

The fact they lost the battle multiple times and began to win after they offered a peace offering implies, that they were not at peace with God. Their constant loss forced them to pause and examine themselves.

There is a lesson here for us today.

What battle are you in, but you are losing?

It may be instead of leaving your relationship, you have decided to stay, but you are experiencing more issues than before.

It may be that this year you have determined to minister to your family, but all your efforts seem to be in vain.

It may be that you have chosen not to give up on God, but for some reason He seems to be further away than before?

It was out of mercy that God allowed them to lose, because had it not been for their loss they never would have had an introspection. Had they won, they would have credited themselves and shared the stage of glory that only God should stand on. Their losses revealed they were not at peace with God.

So, with you, it may be that God is allowing loss to draw your attention to your pride, selfishness and lack of Christlikeness. Sometimes,God is left with no other option to awaken us, than by allowing painful losses.

Sometimes the battle is not the problem but our position with God is.

“What is God saying to you in your situation?”