Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Get behind our through the Bible project. Read more here Project23.

Our text today is Judges 6:7–10.

When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” — Judges 6:7-10

Israel is desperate. Seven years of Midian’s oppression has broken them, and they cry out to God for help. But instead of sending an army or a leader, God sends a prophet with a hard word.

Before God deals with the enemy outside, he exposes the enemy within. He reminds them of his past faithfulness and their present disobedience. The message is raw, but it’s true: because Israel's bigger problem isn’t Midian — it’s their unfaithfulness.

No follower likes this part — the confrontation of God about who we are. We’d rather God just fix the crisis, remove the stress, and make life comfortable again. But God loves us too much to patch up the problems.

Like Israel, our circumstances are often symptoms of the problem, not the real problem. The deeper problem is the drift of our hearts — the quiet compromises, misplaced loyalties, and neglected obedience that weaken us from within. And God knows that if he delivers us without dealing with those things, we’ll just end up back in the same problematic pit. This is why he sometimes sends a word before providing a way out. It feels like a delay, but it’s actually mercy. His goal isn’t temporary relief — it’s lasting change.

That means the painful work of letting him search, confront, and reshape us is not punishment. It’s preparation. And if we skip that work, we risk skipping the real victory he wants to give. So ask yourself the hard question: “What in me needs to change before my situation changes?”

ASK THIS:

1. Have you been asking God to fix your situation without letting Him change your heart?
2. What hard truth might God be speaking to you right now?
3. How could this season be preparation, not just punishment?
4. Are you willing to let God do the deeper work before He brings the outward relief?

DO THIS:

Ask God in prayer: “What in me needs to change before my situation changes?” Write down whatever He brings to mind, and commit to addressing it today.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, don’t just change what’s around me — change what’s in me. Even if it’s painful, do the deep work that will make the victory last. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Give Us Clean Hands."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Get behind our through the Bible project. Read more here Project23.

Our text today is Judges 6:1–6.

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. — Judges 6:1-6

The story of Gideon, in chapter 6, begins with a tragic pattern: sin, oppression, despair. This time, it’s the Midianites who overrun Israel.

They don’t just raid; they ruin. They strip the land bare like locusts, leaving nothing behind. Year after year, the Israelites hide in caves and watch their harvest vanish. This is a defeat on two levels:

1. Outside: The enemy takes what sustains life.
2. Inside: Fear drains the will to fight.

When God’s people abandon Him, the enemy doesn’t just win battles — he slowly erodes courage, hope, and identity until they’re shadows of who they once were.

That’s how the enemy works today. He targets more than your circumstances — he aims at your spirit. First, he gets you to compromise, breaking down your guard. Then he keeps showing up, relentlessly, until you’re hiding instead of fighting. He is relentless.

For some of us, the “Midianites” are obvious sins. For others, it’s a slow creep of fear, bitterness, shame, or distraction that saps spiritual strength. Either way, the result is the same: the land of your life is stripped bare. Because the "Midianites" are relentless then and today.

The only way to fight a relentless enemy is with a relentless return to God. Israel didn’t find victory in a stronger hiding place — they found it when they cried out. You can’t outlast the enemy by retreating deeper into fear; you defeat him by trusting in God and running with complete abandon to God. Is it time to run relentlessly to God? So what compromise in your life has led to your retreat? Identify it and then run relentlessly back to God.

ASK THIS:

1. What “Midianite” is stripping away your spiritual strength right now?
2. Have you been hiding from the problem instead of facing it with God’s help?
3. Where do you see signs of inside-out destruction in your life?
4. What’s one step toward God you can take today to push the enemy back?

DO THIS:

Name one area where fear or compromise has made you retreat. Instead of hiding from it today, bring it to God in prayer and take one practical step to address it in His strength.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, expose the enemy’s work in my life. Keep me from hiding in fear. Teach me to run toward You, not away from the fight, and restore what’s been stripped away. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Defender."

Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Get behind our through the Bible project. Read more here Project23.

Our text today is Judges 5:28–31.

“Out of the window she peered,
the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice:
‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?’
Her wisest princesses answer,
indeed, she answers herself,
‘Have they not found and divided the spoil?—
A womb or two for every man;
spoil of dyed materials for Sisera,
spoil of dyed materials embroidered,
two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?’
So may all your enemies perish, O LORD!
But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might.”
And the land had rest for forty years. — Judges 5:28-31

Deborah’s song closes with two women in two very different windows.

Sisera’s mother stares out, waiting for a victory parade that will never come. She fills the silence with lies — telling herself her son is delayed because he’s collecting more spoil, more comfort, more honor. She hopes in what isn’t true.

Deborah, the prophet, isn’t looking out a window. She’s looking up — declaring what is true. She knows God’s enemies will fall and His friends will shine like the rising sun. Her hope rests on the unshakable character of God, not the uncertain return of a man.

These two women represent two ways to live:

1. The Waiting Mother — anxious, self-reassuring, clinging to a false hope.
2. The Trusting Prophet — confident, God-assured, living in the certainty of His victory.

Too many of us live at the window, staring into the unknown and imagining worst-case scenarios. We try to comfort ourselves with human logic instead of resting in divine truth. But faith doesn’t look out the window for a returning hero — it looks up to the One who’s already won.

Deborah’s side of the window is where the peace is. It’s where the forty years of rest begin. And you can live there now — not because every battle is over, but because your King’s victory is certain.

ASK THIS:

1. Which side of the window do you live on most days — anxious waiting or confident trust?
2. What lies have you been telling yourself instead of standing on God’s truth?
3. How would your outlook change if you believed His victory was already secure?
4. What’s one way you can “shine like the sun” for God’s glory this week?

DO THIS:

When you feel yourself “waiting at the window,” stop and speak a truth from Scripture out loud — shift your gaze from what’s missing to the God who’s already won.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, keep me from living in anxious waiting. Make me like Deborah — confident in Your victory, steady in Your promises, and shining with the peace only You give. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Yes I Will."