Judges 4:1-14
My Story
I’ve never been the strongest person in the room. There are many things that I simply cannot pick up. So as frustrating as it may be, I’ve learned not to rely on my own physical strength. But relying on God for other types of strength isn’t as easy. If you ask my mother, she’ll tell you that some of my first words were “I do it.” I wanted to do everything by myself. I wanted to prove that I could do it. And yet, God calls us to rely on His strength, not our own. There are so many things in life that we cannot get through on our own, and yet we trick ourselves into believing that we can. We sometimes think that if we can push ourselves hard enough, or gather enough people, we can do things on our own, without God’s help.
Your Story
Have you ever tried to do something on your own that just fell flat? What happened? Did you give the situation over to God? What happened then?
The Bible Story
Read Judges 4:1-14.
In the book of Judges, we read about a prophet and a judge named Deborah. In Judges 4, she tells Barak that God commands that he assemble warriors to fight against the people who oppressed them, and that God would give them victory. She trusted that the strength of the Lord would help them win so that they could once again be free. Barak, however, trusted more in human strength. He wouldn’t go to battle unless Deborah went with them. Although Deborah wasn’t the strongest, he knew that Deborah could command the people when needed. As a result of him wanting her to go, she told him that he wouldn’t get the glory of winning. Instead the victory would be at the hands of a woman. Later on in the story, we read that she was right, that a woman was the one who ultimately killed the commander of the army that was ruling over them.
Discussion
• Ask your children/family if they have had to rely on God’s strength before. Ask about the situation and what happened as a result. If they haven’t, ask them to imagine what it might be like.
• As a family, talk about how easy or hard it is to rely on God’s strength.
Action and Prayer
• If there are situations currently happening in the life of your family that require relying on God’s strength, talk about how you all might do so this week.
Ask God for help in relying on Him. Thank Him for always being there. Pray for peace in situations in which you have to rely on God.
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
Kevin Head began serving as Minister to Young Families at First Baptist Roswell, Georgia, in February 2012. He has pastored three churches in Kentucky and more recently served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Lumberton, North Carolina. In 2007, Kevin and his wife, Amy, began a ministry-based counseling practice called New Perspectives for Life in East Cobb, Georgia. He is a graduate of Furman University (B.A.) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D., M.Div.) in Louisville, Kentucky. Kevin was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Belvedere, South Carolina. His model of ministry is based on John 8 and the amazing, continual grace of Jesus Christ. Kevin and Amy have two children, Jenna and Joshua.
