Judges 3:1-2

I had finished the book of Judges awhile ago (I am now in the middle of I Samuel. Judges was such a great read. Very interesting to see the progression of subtle changes [that later produced the big consequences] in the hearts of the Israelites and their relationship with God.) and there were many passages that struck me. But I wanted to post about a particular one...

Judges 3:1-2 - These are the nations the Lord left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience.
*emphasis by me, of course

That got me thinking...A lot of times, the Lord does leave remnants of certain struggles in our lives. And we often get discouraged because we don't have complete victory. It seems like we just can't gain complete control of the land of Canaan. There are always those pesky nations that are like weeds or cockroaches...they just don't seem to die! Yes, God has many reasons for not giving us complete victory (Praise God His ways are higher than man's ways!) but we tend to focus on the reason that we are imperfect, it's our fault, the world is fallen, and maybe God wants to develop in us a characteristic like perseverance, patience, longsuffering, to show us something about ourselves, etc. Don't get me wrong, all those things play a part; He does want to develop in us those characteristics (and we do become more Christ-like as a result). However, I rarely think about the fact that maybe God is training me in warfare. Spiritual warfare. Battles are not quick and easy. They can take longer than a day. They can take weeks, months, years (as we all should be familiar with now in this country but also in the verse above for Israel never completely gained control of Canaan. Ever.). And vanquishing sin can be like conquering land. The land that God has given us. Land that He created: Ourselves. And we are fighting with Satan for our very lives. Praise God that He is our leader in this battle and that He gives us victory each time we fight. Perhaps if we think of our struggles against sin in this light, it'll be more positive and encouraging instead of discouraging...yes, the overall war isn't over until Jesus comes back, but hey, with each battle and each victory, we get closer and closer. And if that's the case, well, if the Lord is for me, who can be against me? Bring it on.