IRON CHARIOTS

Today's reading: Judges 1-6

"The Lord was with the people of Judah, and they took possession of the hill country. But they failed to drive out the people living in the plains because the people there had iron chariots." Judges 1:19 NLT

Do you know what an 'excuse' is? 

In Christian terms, an excuse is an attempt to justify, defend or lessen blame for a fault, sinful action, or inaction, often serving as a deceptive cover-up to avoid accountability before God.

An example of an excuse, taken directly from the pages of our Scripture reading for today...Judah not taking possession of ALL the land God had given them based on the fact that the people living there had iron chariots.

Can we agree, that in that day and time, iron chariots would have been literal war machines? 

The fact that these Judah inhabitants had horses, metal and skill would have certainly been fear inducing against wandering slaves-turned-nomads.

So where's the excuse?

The excuse is that the Israelites had God--and didn't use Him against the chariots, the charioteers or their fears!

The excuse was they believed their enemy to be more powerful than their Lord!

The excuse was that, on their own, they couldn't defeat the enemy--so they didn't even try!

They crossed their arms, sat down in the sand, lowered their heads and pointed at the chariots.

Defeated. Disobedient to the Lord's commands. Discouraged. Destined for constant turmoil from their 'neighbors'. 

What about you?

Have excuses you're presenting to the Lord? Does your enemy have 'iron chariots' he is flaunting? Are you forgetting what He has said, what He has done, what He has promised and what He has asked of you?

Maybe, just maybe your enemy has 'iron chariots', but friend--You have God!