Day 1 – The Cycle of Forgetting and Grace
Read: Judges 3:7-11
Key verse: “But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them.” (v. 9)
Israel’s first deliverer, Othniel, steps quietly onto the scene. His story is brief and straightforward—because the focus isn’t on him but on the God who rescues. The people forget the Lord, fall into idolatry, and are handed over to their enemies. When they cry out, God responds with mercy. That’s the rhythm of Judges—and often, of our own hearts.
Each time Israel fails, God proves He is more faithful than their sin is strong. Othniel reminds us that salvation never begins with human initiative; it starts when God moves toward His forgetful people.
Reflect: Where do you see the “forgetting cycle” in your life right now?
Pray: “Lord, when I forget You, remember me. Draw me back to Your mercy again and again.”
Day 2 – Embarrassing Failure
Read: Judges 3:12-14
Key verse: “And the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” (v. 12)
Israel’s defeat by Moab was humiliating. The once-feared people of God now serve descendants of incest and fear. Losing Jericho—the very first victory of the Promised Land—was like watching a trophy shatter on the floor.
Sin still does that. It promises control but always delivers shame. God sometimes allows His people to taste failure so pride can die and humility can live.
Peter knew this kind of failure when he denied Christ. Yet Jesus turned his humiliation into strength. God does the same today—He redeems our defeats so that grace, not pride, has the final word.
Reflect: What “embarrassing failures” has God used to humble you?
Pray: “Father, teach me not to hide my shame, but to bring it into the light where You can heal it.”
Day 3 – The Unlikely Hero
Read: Judges 3:15-23
Key verse: “The Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.” (v. 15)
Ehud, the left-handed man from the tribe of the right-hand, was not who anyone expected. Whether disabled or simply different, he was overlooked—until God chose him. The Lord delights in turning weakness into strategy.
Because Ehud’s right hand was bound or weak, his weapon went unnoticed. What the world calls a disadvantage became the very means of victory. This is the pattern of grace: God uses the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong.
Reflect: What weakness might God be using in you as a hidden strength?
Pray: “God, I offer You my limitations. Show Your power through what I cannot do.”
Day 4 – When the Weak Become Strong
Read: Judges 3:24-30; 2 Corinthians 12:8-10
Key verse: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9)
Ehud’s act brought eighty years of peace—Israel’s longest rest in Judges. His courage came not from ability but from faith that the Lord would act. Paul echoes the same truth: God’s power shines brightest through our cracks.
When we boast in weakness, we aren’t celebrating pain; we’re celebrating grace. The cross of Christ looked like defeat, but it was victory. God’s pattern hasn’t changed—strength through surrender, glory through humility, life through death.
Reflect: Do you believe your weakness can display God’s strength?
Pray: “Jesus, make me content with weakness if it magnifies Your strength in me.”
Day 5 – The Right Hand of the Lord
Read: Psalm 44:3; Psalm 118:14-16; Acts 2:32-33
Key verse: “The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation… The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” (Ps 118:14-15)
Ehud, the left-handed deliverer, points to the ultimate deliverer—the Right Hand of the Lord, Jesus Christ. On the cross He appeared weak, but His “weakness” crushed sin and death.
God’s people still cry out for rescue, and He still answers—not by sending a warrior of worldly strength but a Savior who triumphs through humility. We are people of embarrassing failures, but He is the God of unlikely heroes and unexpected grace.
Reflect: How does Jesus’ victory reshape the way you see your own failures and limits?
Pray: “Lord Jesus, You are the Right Hand that saves. Let Your strength be my song, today and always.”