God, Who Tested Israel

Today's passage deals with the background of God leaving the Canaanite peoples in the land after Israel entered Canaan, in order to train them. When the people failed to live out their faith and compromised with a worldly life, God used hardship and circumstances as tools to test whether their faith was right. This shows that it was not simply punishment, but a process of God's deep love and training, so that believers would have a true faith that does not change in any situation.

It also brings out the meaning of testing through the story of Daniel, who did not leave God and lived uprightly even in exile. Daniel did not stop praying even at the risk of his life, and as a result he experienced God's protection even in the lions' den. This shows that a faith that keeps God's word amid the world's mockery and threats in the end reveals God's glory and becomes the way to overcome the hardships one is given.

When we remember that the difficulties and tests we go through are God's training for the growth of our faith, what choice should we make?