Take a moment to read Deuteronomy 20 before reading the devotional below.
When I was a young teenager, one of my first chores was mowing the lawn. One day, when I’d been mowing the lawn for an entire summer, we ran out of gas. Rather than having to get gas, I decided to use the weed wacker to mow the lawn. When I was done, the lawn was an uneven, jagged mess. Some areas were cut so low you could see the dirt. Other areas were so long that it looked like they hadn’t been cut at all. When my dad got home, he took one look at the lawn and made me do it again. This time, I had to get gas and use the lawnmower. “Sometimes you can do the right job in the wrong way,” he said as he sent me on my way.
In Deuteronomy 20, God gives the Israelites instructions on how to do war properly. He gives three basic rules. First, when going to war, trust in God. He wants to make sure that the Israelites don’t trust in their armies, or their generals. If they win, they will win because God is on their side. Second, he tells them to try and make peace with any town before they attack it. War is a last resort. Finally, he tells them that if they do have to go to war with a town, they are to execute all the men in the town. That’s a heavy command, and many people have wondered why God would command such a thing. Once again, God does not explain. One principle that God often refers to is the obvious fact that any enemy has the potential to be a future temptation. Any enemy town that is left in the middle of Israelite territory might eventually tempt God’s people away from God’s leadership. God commands his people to go to any lengths necessary to prevent that from happening. Perhaps that is what God is thinking here.
As surely as he knew that his people would eventually have to go to war, he knows the complications that are coming up in your future. God’s wisdom is enough to guide you through those difficult times. God’s word offers wise principles that can help you navigate those complicated moments of life. The challenge is to make sure that we devote ourselves to knowing God’s word before things become difficult, so that when they do we know what God would say to us.