What a great comfort we receive in the knowledge that we belong, in both body and soul, to a sovereign God, who is by his very nature a merciful, gracious, loving God. His promises are for the good of His people. We may suffer in this life, and often we do. God does not promise that life will be easy. What God does promise that that He is faithful to His decrees.

Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor… and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening.  (1 Kings 22:34-35)
The archery reference in this passage may be obscure at first glance, and yet the background is very familiar to us. At this point we see Ahab, the king of Israel in cooperation with Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, both at war against the nation of Syria. Prior to this battle, the prophet of the Lord had warned King Ahab that if he went into battle, then he would be killed.
Now we remember Ahab as the weak and wicked husband of Queen Jezebel, the same royal family which vigorously sought to destroy the Prophet Elijah. God had promised to punish Ahab for his wickedness. Scripture tells us the pride precedes destruction (Pr. 16:18); in the case of Ahab, his pride told him that God had no authority over him, and on that same day he was killed.
Ahab had a plan; he would go into battle as a common soldier, and asked the king of Judah to be dressed in full royal apparel. The scheme was that Syria would mistake Jehoshaphat for Ahab, and the result would be that Ahab would live, while Jehoshaphat would be killed.
A brilliant plan! But a plan that makes God to be small and man to be great.
A certain man drew a bow at random. What an interesting line!
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God is our refuge and our strength. We are also reminded that God “tests the righteous.” Yes, we may – and do – suffer pain.  Job suffered the loss of everything. Yet, from the hand of God, we are being strengthened, tempered, and refined. The testing from God is meant to prepare us and not to harm us. Thus, we are being prepared for glory.

For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart…The LORD tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.(Psalm 11:2 & 5)
In the verses which we are considering this week we see two distinct ways in which the Christian is caused to suffer affliction, testing or trial. The first is at the hand of “the wicked”. The wicked are here shown to be acting as secret soldiers in a war against the children of God. The second cause for suffering or trial is shown to be directly from the hand of God; verse five informs us that God “tests the righteous”. It is obvious that testing from God and the attacks of the wicked are not the same; but in the moment, the pain is felt in both instances.
What is the difference? And how should we as Christians respond to various trials?
I distinctly recall a time when I was at the archery range preparing my bow and arrow for a shot at the target, when as the string was halfway drawn, my string slipped loose from the release, and sent the arrow flying randomly down range. Thankfully it landed safely into a back-stop which was installed to protect against harm in just such an instance.
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